


Prime Effect 2

by ApolloXL5



Series: Prime Effect [2]
Category: Mass Effect, Transformers - All Media Types, Transformers: Prime
Genre: Action/Adventure, F/M, Hurt/Comfort, Science Fiction
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2014-12-18
Updated: 2014-12-20
Packaged: 2018-03-02 02:21:49
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 10
Words: 64,384
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/2796170
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/ApolloXL5/pseuds/ApolloXL5
Summary: <blockquote class="userstuff">
              <p>After a mysterious and deadly new Alien species begins targeting Human Colonies throughout the Galaxy, Jackson Prime finds himself in the shadow of MECH (a terrorist Organisation from the days of 'The Great War'), who want his help in dealing with this new threat. Can Jack really trust his one-time foe to help him, or is Humanity destined for Annihilation.</p>
            </blockquote>





	1. Chapter 1

 

In a large dark room, the only illumination coming from a grouping of orange holographic screens in its center. A Caucasian man in his late fifties stood there and was monitoring each screen intently. On the screens were numerous videos and images of the star ship Normandy, Commander Darby and his team mates. Other images included Sovereign and Saren. He stared at the screens for what seemed forever until his attention was caught by the sounds of footsteps behind him.

"Your late agent Lawson." he said in a calm stoic manner.

"My apologies Director, but it would appear that the target was harder to track than we originally thought." a young woman replied as she stood beside him. He did not even acknowledge her as he continued to watch the footage playing on the screens.

"Well, it would seem that you still accomplished the task." he replied pointing at screen showing the target's current position.

"Yes, we have a vessel shadowing them as we speak, here is the latest Intel we have acquired." she replied as she held out a data pad. The old man just waved his hand over it and the data then transferred to one of the screens. He then looked at it intently before smiling.

"Interesting, tell our vessel to keep transmitting data back to me for as long as they are able."

The young woman nodded before she turned away and looked around the barren room, it looked like it was made of mirrors as the walls, floor and ceiling all reflected their image back with the orange hue of the screens behind them. The man looked over to her, noticing her tense posture.

"What's the matter Miranda?" he asked, his tone shifting to an almost caring one. She then crossed her arms and looked over her shoulder to him.

"It's just that Jack Darby did everything right. He saved the galaxy from Sovereign and the Geth and now humanity's place among the galactic community is stronger than ever."

The Director looked back at a screen with the young Prime's image on it.

"Yes, he certainly proved his worth when it counted didn't he." he replied while enlarging one screen showing footage of the Prime hacking down Saren from the Citadel security feed.

"And yet it is still not enough..." she sighed.

"...While he is out there searching, the Council is busy sweeping the entire affair under the rug. They are even secretly clogging up the Alliance with red tape, stopping them from helping in the search." the Agent continued, as her voice showed signs of annoyance.

The Director picked up a glass from a stand on his right and took a sip of the liquid inside.

"I know, the council would rather blame the whole ordeal on Saren and the Geth. Not wanting to believe in myths and legends, but we know what the real threat is."

The young woman then turned around and looked at the older man.

"Yes, the Reapers are still out there." she replied as the Director then waved his free hand over one of the screen's, making it swap places with another.

"And now it is up to us to stop them." he said as he looked over an image of Sovereign. Miranda shook her head.

"Unfortunately no one will trust MECH. Even after all these years. They still believe we are the terrorist organisation that we were during the war."

She then looked away from the Director, as a slight smile graced her lips.

"But Darby, they will listen to him. He is a hero, the first Human Prime." she said with admiration that did not go unnoticed by the older man who coughed into his hand, gaining her attention. This snapped her out of it, her posture and face becoming serious again.

"But he is only a man. If anything happens to him, I believe that we will all lose." she said honestly as the Director turned and looked directly at her. She could not see his face as the light from holo-screens shone behind him, but she could see that his yellow optics narrowed at her.

"Then see to it that we don't lose him." he answered before taking another sip from his glass. Miranda then nodded before turning around and leaving the room. Once again leaving the Director alone as he studied the screens in quiet.

**PRIME EFFECT 2**

Meanwhile across the other side of the galaxy, the Normandy dropped out of hyperspace as it's hull shimmered softly while passing a barren rocky planet. In the CIC the crew were going about their duties as Commander Jack Darby and his pilot, the Autobot Hotrod were talking in the cockpit.

"We have entered the Amada system and the stealth mode is engaged." the pilot said before turning to Jack.

"So we have been searching the Omega Nebula for a means to defeat the Reapers for the last two weeks, hoping to find a super weapon or something to use against them, but have found nothing. A big fat zero." he continued irritably.

Jack looked down at the screen in front of him, reading the information that was appearing on it.

"Never said it was going to be easy Hotrod. Besides we still have the rest of the galaxy to search. We check out any lead, any trail that might lead us to something that we can use."

Hotrod shrugged and then looked back at his console.

"Well the sooner we find something the better. I hear the new Blasto movie is showing at theaters now, and I don't want to miss it."

Jack, knowing where this conversation would lead decided to leave before being dragged into another movie talk, so he patted Hotrod on the shoulder before turning around and walking away.

"I'll be in my quarters if anything should happen." he said as Hotrod lean out looking back at him smirking.

"Is Arcee there too?" he jokingly asked. But Jack being the man he was chose to ignore it.

"As you were Hotrod." he answered stoically, to which the pilot chuckled before turning back round to his controls.

"Aye Aye sir."

As Jack entered their quarters, funny it used to be his quarters. But since he and Arcee had begun a relationship only a few weeks previously, she had spent more time in his quarters so he asked her to move in. He looked around the room to find that she was already claiming it by having more of her belongings on show than his own. The Commander didn't mind though, he would do anything for her. As he sat down at the desk and activated the console, he heard the shower running and smiled.

' _She really does love that shower.'_ ' he thought as he looked through the numerous daily reports and messages that had filled up his inbox. One was from Tali who had just gotten Engineering just the way she wanted it. The other was from Garrus and he was complaining that the crew's constant messing with the weapon systems was interfering with his calibrations. There was a message was from Wrex asking him to join the Krogan for a drink in the common room which made the Prime chuckle.

Jack then turned off the console when he heard the shower turn off, and turned to see Arcee stepping out of the bathroom with a blue towel wrapped around her figure.

"Nice." he said with a big grin. The femme smiled back at him with slightly red cheeks.

"Thanks." she replied, a little taken back. He then stood up and walked over to her.

"So I guess your shift is over now?" she asked as he put an arm around her back and pulled her close.

"I am all yours for the next few hours." he replied as he started to kiss her neck. A sweet moan escaped her as she closed her eyes, enjoying his lips on her skin.

"Whatever am I going to do with you?" she said before Jack looked back to her and then pressed his lips against hers. They tasted just as sweet and succulent now as they did the first time he kissed her. She suddenly surprised him by pushing him onto the bed and climbed on top of him as her towel fell off, exposing her athletic figure. Then for one moment they just looked into each others eyes as they smiled at each other lovingly.

"Lights off." Arcee said as she bent down and kissed her lover passionately while the room went dark around them.

**PRIME EFFECT 2**

It was late when Jack woke up lying on their bed with the sheets half covering him. He looked to his side to see Arcee lying next to him, smiling back.

"Do you realise that you snore in your sleep." she said gently. Jack looked back horrified.

"Why did you have to tell me that." he replied as he placed his hands on his face in shame. The femme chuckled as she got on to her side facing him.

"It wasn't bad, it was soft and faint. I thought it was cute." she teased as she gently pulled his hands away. He looked back at her and saw nothing but love in her eyes and found himself relaxing as she then moved in close and rested her head on his chest as he started stroking her blue hair.

"Jack do you ever think about the future?" she asked softly.

"What do you mean?" he replied curious to why she had just brought it up. The femme then looked up at him.

"I mean us, our future."

The Prime looked back at the femme and saw that something had been weighing on her mind.

"Yes I do, I mean I know that we have the Reapers to deal with first but I have found myself thinking more about what we would do after." he replied which made her spark warm. She then took a breath before speaking again.

"Well there was something I wanted to ask you" she said, her voice sounding nervous. Jack looked at her.

"Well ask, you know you can talk to me about anything." he replied gently. Arcee sighed as she recognized the caring tone in his voice.

"Well first, what do you know of sparkm…" but she was cut off mid sentence by the intercom activating.

"Commander, you and Arcee are needed in the CIC." Hotrod's voice echoed throughout the room.

Jack looked back at his love as she looked at him disappointed.

"I tell you what, we take care of whatever it is that they need. And then we come back up here and you tell me what is on you mind." he said with a warm smile as she closed the distance and relaxed into a deep kiss with him, holding it for several seconds before separating.

"Okay, let's get this done quickly then." she replied.

As they entered the bridge, everyone was hurrying about as the atmosphere felt tense. The two walked up to Hotrod.

"What's the situation." Jack asked.

The pilot looked over to them.

"Commander we have an unidentified ship approaching us on a intercept trajectory." he replied, worry was evident in his voice.

"But I thought stealth mode was active." Arcee observed while looking over the readouts on a screen next to her.

"Yeah it is, so whatever this ship is, it has sensors that are strong enough to detect us." he said as Jack looked over at Arcee's screen.

"Can you show us it?" he asked as Hotrod then transferred a picture of it to their console.

"Here you go, it's the first scan I took of it."

They both looked at the image on screen. The alien ship at a cylinder like shape with numerous sections sticking out while it spun on its axis. If Jack were to describe it, he would say that it looked somewhat like a corkscrew. He looked over to Hotrod as the young bot's face went white.

"By Primus, they are targeting us and powering weapons." he said, fear taking over.

"Evasive action and raise shields." The Commander ordered as Hotrod too control and veered the ship to the right as the massive cruiser fired an yellow energy beam that narrowly missed them.

"Hail them." the Prime ordered as Arcee worked the console in front of her.

"No response." she replied as the enemy ship fired again scraping the Alliance ship, causing numerous explosions on all decks.

"We have a hull breach on deck four. And we are leaking atmosphere." Arcee stated as Hotrod managed to turn the ship just in time before the yellow energy beam hit again.

"Tell everyone to switch to breather helmets, and get damage control teams down there to seal the breach." Jack replied before turning back to Hotrod who had just put on his own breather helmet.

"Okay, enough with playing nice, arm weapons and take us at them."

The Autobot nodded and swung the ship around and flew directly at the cruiser as it's beam hit the Normandy again, causing the ship to shake against the impact.

"Fire!" Jack shouted as the Normandy fired everything from torpedoes, to its cannons at the unknown ship.

"No effect." Hotrod replied just as the bridge was rocked by the enemy firing on the Alliance ship and slicing off the port-side wing, making it spin uncontrollably.

"We have lost our starboard engine, I am trying to stabilise her with thrusters." The pilot said as he franticly worked at the controls. Jack looked at Arcee who too was now wearing her breather helmet as she looked back at him, it was as if they were both thinking the same thing.

"What's the damage report?" he asked hesitantly. The femme flipped through the screens.

"We have hull breaches on decks four, five and one. Main power is off across most of the ship." she replied.

Jack then turned back to Hotrod and activated the intercom.

"This is the Commander, all hands abandon ship, I repeat all hands abandon ship."

Arcee and Hotrod looked at each other worriedly before looking back to the Prime. Then the intercom activated again.

"This is Tali, we have crew trapped down here in Engineering and cannot make it to the escape pods. We need assistance." she called as both Jack and his XO started to head to the elevator. Jack turned to Hotrod.

"Try to keep that ship from getting a target lock on us, we will go down to deck four and help Tali." he said as they then walked off.

"Will do Commander." he pilot replied as he kept his attention on evading the unknown adversary.

Once they got out from the elevator they were met with flames and smoke as the corridors were lit in the red emergency lighting.

"I think you should suit up Jack." Arcee said. The Prime nodded and removed a dark grey octagonal disc that had the silver Autobot symbol on it's topside. He then placed it on his chest and it activated, unfolding and spreading out along the Commander's body before taking the shape of the Prime armour, the autobot symbol on his right chest plate shining for a second before fading. "Lets go" Jack said as they both headed down towards engineering.

**PRIME EFFECT 2**

Once they arrived at the entrance to Engineering, both of them saw the problem.

"Tali, its Jack, we are outside now. It seems that part of the ceiling has fallen down and blocked off the door." he said into his com link.

"Just stay calm as I cut through it." he then activated his energy blade and swung at the debris, slicing it in two. They then cleared out the pieces and entered the room. Jack went over to Tali who was sitting against a control station while his partner helped up the other crewmen.

"Are you ok Tali?" he asked as the Quarian held her arm.

"I had a suit puncture that I have just repaired but I am now running a fever from exposure to something in the air." she said as the ship was rocked by another impact from the enemy's weapon. Jack helped his friend up and motioned the femme over to them.

"Arcee, I need you to get Tali and these crewmen into the nearest escape pod." he said as he then saw the surprise in her face.

"But what about you?" she replied.

"I am going back up to the cockpit to get Hotrod, I'll be right behind you." he replied confidently. But Arcee was not having any of it.

"We can do this together, I am not leaving your side." she said adamantly. Jack then placed his hands on both of her shoulders and looked into her eyes. I need you to help Tali and these crewmen. I will activate the distress beacon from here and will get into the nearest escape pod with Hotrod. We will be right behind you." he said, his voice remaining calm despite the worsening situation around them.

The femme just looked at him for a moment, before accepting defeat.

"You better be right behind us." she replied as she turned away only to have Jack stop her and hold his hand to her face to stroke her cheek.

"Don't worry, you are not going to lose me that easily."

He then placed something in her hand. She looked down to see his dog tags. She looked back up to him to see him smiling at her.

"And I will want those back." he replied gently before being cut off by another hit to the ship making the room shake.

"Now go." he said as Arcee helped Tali and the others out of Engineering. Jack then turned to the control console and activated the distress beacon, which dropped out of the underbelly of the ship as it drifted near a blue planet with the unknown enemy closing in.

Arcee and the group made it to the escape pod as she hit the activation pad, making the pod open up in front of them.

"Okay, everyone in." she said as Tali and the crewmen climbed in and sat down in the empty seats. The femme then activated her com link.

"Arcee to Garrus and Wrex, come in." she called out, hoping to get an answer.

"Garrus here, Wrex and myself are just directing crewmen into the escape pods." the Turian replied.

"Me too, also I have Tali here." she said as the corridor filled with more smoke from the growing fires.

"Is she alright? What about Jack, is he with you?" he asked.

"Yes she is fine, but Jack is heading back to the cockpit for Hotrod." she said while looking down at her lover's dog tags in her hand.

"Hey Jack will be fine, he will get Hotrod off the ship before anything happens. We should go now though." he answered over the com link.

"Okay, launching escape pods now" she answered as she entered the pod, the hatch closing behind her. Then as the Normandy continued to drift, its thrusters barely keeping it stable. Parts of the hull folded out to reveal the escape pods which then launched out into space.

Jack climbed up through the service ducts to reach the CIC, not even attempting to use the elevator considering how badly damaged the Normandy would be by now. He reached the top when the ship shook severally from another attack. It felt like an earthquake as he barely managed to hold on to the ladder.

' _That one felt too close.'_ he thought as he reached up to the hatch and attempted to open it, but it would not budge. He activated his holo-tool and brought up a scan of the ship, looking at the area he was about to enter. It was flashing red as Jack realised the only reason that it would be doing that.

' _There's a hull breach in CIC._ ' he thought. He then concentrated and his armour responded with his breather helmet unfolding around his head from out from within itself. He then heard his own breathing as he then activated the manual release and opened the hatch, the oxygen in the service duct being pulled out into the vacuum of space. He then climbed out to see that the CIC had a hull breach that covered what used to be the ceiling. He looked up to see a blue planet and the stars overhead as well as the attacking ship closing. He then walked slowly towards the cockpit, as he pushed floating chairs and dead crewman out of the way as he got closer to Hotrod who was still at his station, trying to keep the ship moving.

"Hotrod, we have to abandon ship." he said while the Autobot kept trying to control the ship.

"No I won't leave, I can still get the ship to safety." he defiantly replied as he tried to retain control of the Normandy. Jack leaned over Hotrod trying to press the issue.

"The Normandy is going to be destroyed, going down with her won't change that."

Hotrod's face suddenly looked lost as he realised the futile nature of what he was trying to achieve.

"….Yeah okay." he replied sadly.

The pilot then got out of the chair before noticing some information appear on his screen that caused his spark's beat to quicken.

"They are coming around for another attack" he warned Jack as the enemy ship fired on the defenceless and heavily damaged Normandy again, rocking the ship even harder. The Prime then grabbed the bot by the arm and pulled him away from the cockpit.

"Okay, I'm moving." he replied as Jack opened the escape pod's hatch and the young Autobot got inside and fastened himself into one of the chairs there. Jack was about to climb in himself when suddenly the hull behind him disintegrated revealing open space. Another explosion knocked the Commander away from the pod and back into the quickly disintegrating cockpit. The energy beam broke through and blocked him off from the escape pod as Hotrod watched helplessly from his seat.

"Commander!" he shouted to Jack who grabbed onto the railing on the wall near the pod. Knowing that there was no other way, he took one last look at his pilot and then hit the pod's activation panel next to him.

"PRIME!" Hotrod screamed as the escape pod sealed itself and launched into space, away from the ship. Jack then let go of the railing and let himself float in the middle of the room. Another shot from the cruiser hit a power cable near him, causing it to explode and send him flying out of the wreck and into open space.

He watched his ship break up as the enemy fired again, cutting through the ship like a knife through butter, making the Normandy explode. The shockwave from the blast knocked the Prime further away.

Then over the sounds of his own heavy breathing, he heard a hissing noise coming from inside his own suit and realised that his oxygen supply had been damaged from the shockwave. He franticly reached behind his neck to the breach in his helmet, trying desperately to stop all his oxygen from flowing out into space. But the oxygen supply emptied quickly, as he felt his lungs collapse. The air that had inhabited them being forcibly sucked out by the vacuum. He was consumed by a white hot pain across hi entire body as his organs turned to mush and he lost consciousness just as his heart stopped beating. His lifeless body then drifted into the planet's atmosphere.

From where she was sitting in the escape pod, Arcee watched helplessly as the Normandy was no more but debris drifting in space. A million thoughts ran through her mind as she fumbled for her com link.

"Jack, Hotrod. Are either of you there?" she called out, her voice nearly breaking. Then there was silence for a long moment before Hotrod's voice came through.

"Arcee…" he answered hesitantly gaining her attention, as she got off her seat and stood at the window looking out at the destroyed ship.

"Hotrod, is Jack with you? Is he alright?" she replied as she tried to keep a grip of her emotions.

"Arcee….I am sorry." he answered shakily. Her eyes widened and her mouth parted as his words sunk in.

"Jack got me into the escape pod, but he didn't make it. He was still onboard when the Normandy exploded." The young Autobot answered, his voice filled with guilt and regret. The femme then collapsed to her knees, tears streamed down her face as the control she had over her emotions broke down. She let herself fall into grief as her eyes stung from the tears welling up around them. She looked out into space and placed a hand on the window.

' _No Jack, you wouldn't leave me…Jack!_ ' she thought as she gripped his dog tags tightly. Tali looked away from the grieving femme and muttered a prayer for her fallen friend as their escape pod and the others drifted away to safety.


	2. Chapter 2

 

Jack found himself surrounded by a warm white light. It was so bright that he could not see anything around him, yet the brightness did not hurt his eyes. But wherever he was he felt calm, peaceful, done. Somehow he knew everything was alright, that everyone he knew was ok. Most importantly he knew Arcee was safe and that in itself made him feel tranquil. Time now had no meaning to him as he floated there in the light. But as he relaxed his attention was drawn to a black spot that had appeared in front of him. He reached out with his hand to the spot and found the area around it to be ice cold, making he draw his hand back as his mind was suddenly given a glimpse of something. It was something that he had forgotten, that caused him great pain. Before he could remember it fully he tried to move away, make some distance from it.

But then the spot expanded around him, making him shiver from the extreme cold that emanated from it. He then started to remember, the cold, the fire, and suddenly there was a sharp pain in his chest, then it struck again and again. The warm bright light had faded as the darkness surrounded him. He clutched his chest as the pain became unbearable as he felt his heart beat again repeatedly. He also felt something against his back, cold and metallic. He couldn't move as if he was strapped down to it. He then opened his mouth and took a deep breath, his lungs filling with oxygen as his chest expanded with each breath there after. He then heard voices around him, one sounded female while the other was unmistakably male.

"Something is wrong Miranda, he is coming too." the male said as Jack tried to open his eyes, the darkness being banished by light as his eyes refocused to see the ceiling above him. He tried to look around but found that his vision was still slightly blurry.

"It's too soon Wilson." the female voice replied irritably. As Jack looked back to the ceiling the female then stood over him. She had long brown hair just past her shoulders and looked down to him before looking back at the male.

"Give him the sedative now." she said as the male came into view above Jack. He then felt a prick to his arm and a liquid then entering his body, making him slip back into unconsciousness again as the woman looked back down to him.

"Everything is alright Jack, sleep for now."

Then the darkness returned around him as his mind was filled with images of his last moments, the pain he felt as his life slipped away. It was all to much for him and he fought to rid himself of those memories that threatened to tear him apart, then suddenly he opened his eyes and awakened.

Jack rose up from the berth quickly in shock as he breathed heavily. His entire body throbbing, proving that he was alive again. He had no idea how it happened though. He looked around almost like he was panicking, eyes darting all around the place. He still felt the pain in his chest as he looked down to his body and saw that the matrix was still hanging around his neck. But then he noticed something else, he looked past the crystal to what appeared to be scarring on his chest. He then looked over his arms to find more of scarring.

' _What the hell happened to me?_ ' he thought as he got off the berth and saw a mirror on the wall in front of him. He walked over to it, his muscles aching like they were not used to being this active. He then examined his face to see the same scarring was present there too, if only slightly fainter. As he looked over the scars on his body and face, thoughts of how and why he was back suddenly plagued his mind before the intercom activated.

"Jackson Prime, your finally awake and not a moment to soon." a familiar female voice spoke gaining the man's attention.

"What's going on here, why I am back?" he asked.

"I can't answer those questions right now, all I can tell you right now is that your life is in danger." she replied.

"Why, what is going on?" he asked as he looked around the room, clearly it was some sort of lab, but he couldn't see anything of use in it.

"The station's supply of security droids have gone haywire and are killing off the crew, but they seem to be converging on your position from all over the station. I can get you out of here, but you have to follow my instructions."

Jack knew the likely hood of him getting out of here without help was not good especially since he had no idea where he was, so he nodded in agreement.

"Okay, what do you want me to do." he replied reluctantly.

"First in the cupboard to your left you should find your armour, I think you will need it. And then in the next room you will find a mattock ninety six assault rifle with ammo."

The Prime went over to the cupboard and opened it to find the octagonal disc of his and he slapped it onto his chest. Within seconds his Prime armour was his body again as he left the room and found the weapon on the table like the woman had told him. He picked it up and headed over to the lab's exit.

"Okay I am ready, what our next move?" he said. He peeked around the door to look down the grey metallic corridor outside, not seeing any movement there.

"Okay, head down that corridor and take a right, before coming to a junction. Once there go left and you should reach at catwalk. I be able to give you more instructions then."

Jack then walked out of the room and followed the woman's instructions as he made his way down the corridors. He then heard mechanical sounds and footsteps around the corner of the left corridor joining the one he was in and took cover behind a cargo container as two droids stepped out with their weapons raised. Their red optics scanning the area, as they searched for any organic life signs. Jack held his weapon steady and then stepped out and fired at both droids, riddling their metallic bodies with bullets as they fell down to ground. He looked down at his new weapon and smiled.

' _Where have you been all my life._ ' he thought as he then ran past them and around the corner.

"Are you there, I just ran into a two of the droids you mentioned." he said aloud as he carried on down the next corridor.

"Sorry….I….not….signal…..jammed…" she said as interference crackled over the intercom before it finally went offline.

"Wait, I didn't get that last part, you still there?" he replied before realising that her signal was gone. He sighed as he came to the conclusion that he was again alone. Well he might as well see where she was leading him.

**PRIME EFFECT 2**

When he got to the catwalk the woman had mentioned he noticed a human female fighting off a group of droids, she was wearing black armour with purple neon lights covering her athletic figure and was using a pair of escrima sticks which crackled with electricity as she brought one down on the body of a droid that was lying on the floor, making it shake and smoke before off lining. She then looked up to see another enemy approach her and she thrust the other stick into its chest before ripping the first one out of the dead body and shoving it into the attacker's head, making it explode. But as she regrouped she had not seen a droid appear behind her and it lunged at the woman, only for a gunshot to echo around her as the droid fell to the ground. She looked down at it confused, as smoke rose from the bullet hole in its head. She then heard footsteps behind her and spun around with her weapons ready to see Jack, with his rifle aimed at her.

"Jack?" the woman asked surprised as Jack got a good look at the female in front of him.

She had pale soft skin and raven black coloured hair that was stylized into a pixie cut. He then noticed her eyes, they were a vibrant purple. A smile appeared on her lips as it dawned on Jack who was.

"Thanks for the assist Jack?" she said coyly as he raised his weapon at her which surprised the woman.

"Airachnid, I thought you were dead." he bit back at her as the femme looked at him confused.

"Jack lower the rifle, I am here to help you." she said in a calm tone that caught the Prime off guard.

"What, the last time we met you tried to kill me and Arcee and now your making out you're here to help. What planet do you think I was born on?" he asked sarcastically which made her chuckle, confusing him even more.

"Well I would love to go through twenty questions with you, but right now we have a dozen droids between us and the shuttle bay so I think we should put this on hold, ok?" she said in an none threatening tone.

"Alright but if you try anything, I will put a bullet through your spark chamber." he warned but she just shrugged it off.

"No worries, now lets get out of here." she replied as they both made their way over the catwalk and into another part of the facility. As they moved through the corridors, they could hear screams and gunfire echo around them. Airachnid looked back to Jack and saw what he was thinking.

"Don't even think about it Jack, we have to get you out of here, everyone else is expendable." she said in the cold tone that Jack recognised.

"We can't just leave them?" he pleaded with her, but she just looked ahead. He then remembered the woman from earlier.

"Well what about the woman that was helping me over the intercom?"

This caught the femme's attention as she stopped and looked back at him.

"What woman, you mean Miranda?" she asked while Jack nodded back. Airachnid smiled back at him.

"She will be fine, I wouldn't be surprised if she isn't already waiting for us." she replied as Jack looked back at her curiously.

"How are you involved in this anyway, in fact how did you survive the war?" he asked. Airachnid looked back at him as they carried on down the hallway.

"Jack I promise I will answer all of your questions once we are off this station." she replied in a gentle tone that again knocked Jack for a loop.

' _Who is this? Because it's certainly not the Airachnid I remember_ ' he thought as they entered a large room. He could see the shuttle in the adjourning room but there was one problem, the room they both occupied was full of security droids. Jack and Airachnid took cover behind some large containers as the Prime looked out at the enemies ahead of them.

"Well this could be a problem." the femme said making Jack smirk.

"Nah, I have faced far worse odds than this before."

She smiled at his comment. "I heard, it is quite impressive I must say Jack." she replied. Jack looked back at her still confused by the former con.

"So you going to show me what you can do?" she said in an almost flirty tone. Jack looked back out at the droids and couldn't help but smile. He then took a breath before charging round from the cover and firing a burst of bullets that brought down the first droid, as he then ran the droid next to it through with his energy blade. He then dived into a roll behind cover as two more turned and fired at him.

As he hid there, he didn't see Airachnid jump between the two, jamming her escrima sticks into the central processors of both droids, putting them out of commission. Then Jack got up and fired at the two droids standing far to the right as the femme threw a energy grenade at a group of droids approaching from the far left, trying to surround the two. The two of them then fought back to back as the droids continued to coming at them.

Once the smoke cleared and all the droids were down, Jack and Airachnid stood in the middle of the mess they had created while panting slightly. He looked over to the her and recognised the look on femme's face. Airachnid face had a fierce look that he knew only to well. His staring did not go unnoticed by the femme though. Who took a deep breath, her face becoming calm before smiling back at him.

"Nice moves there Jack, good to see that two years out of commission hasn't slowed you down."

Jack's eyes widened and his mouth parted.

"Two years, I have been gone that long?" he asked, shocked at the femme's comments. Airachnid merely shrugged before motioning Jack to follow her, not wanting to stay on the station a moment longer. As they made their way to the shuttle bay a gunshot rang out, making them run to the door. They opened it to find a dead man lying on the floor with a bullet hole in his head and a human woman standing above him, she was holding a pistol at the man's head. Jack looked at the woman who he recognised despite this being the first time he saw her properly. Airachnid ran up to the woman.

"What in the All-spark happened?" she asked as Jack joined the two.

"Well I found out that Wilson had reprogrammed the droids to kill everyone on the station, and then saw him here prepping the shuttle via the security cams. So I made sure he did not live long enough to escape in our only shuttle." she said stoically, as the femme looked down at Wilson's body.

"Why did he betray MECH like that?" Airachnid asked which made Jack's eyes widen as he then raised his weapon at both of them.

"MECH, I knew you weren't actually helping me Airachnid, just delivering me into their hands." he said angrily. Both women looked at him confused.

"Jackson Prime, Airachnid helped us retrieve your body so that we could bring you back." Miranda replied while the femme nodded in agreement. Jack couldn't believe what he was hearing but then he noticed Airachnid giving him a gentle smile, and didn't know why but found himself lowering his weapon.

"Why would MECH need my help?" he asked hesitantly.

"I am not at liberty to say, the Director would like to tell you in person." Miranda replied, her face still stoic like. Jack looked around when they heard more droids approaching.

"Okay let's go, it sounds like the droids have finished off the station's crew and are now coming this way." he said as Miranda used her holo-tool to open the shuttle's hatch and motioned them inside.

"I wouldn't worry about the droids Darby, I have set the station's self destruct to activate once we are a safe distance away." she replied as she got into the pilot's seat with both Jack and Airachnid standing behind her. She then closed the hatch and flew the shuttle out of the station and away before the now derelict MECH base exploded. The shuttle then jumped into hyperspace.

**PRIME EFFECT 2**

As the shuttle jumped back into normal space it approached another large space station, the symbol of MECH, clearly seen on the hull. Once the shuttle had landed, Airachnid had left Jack and Miranda as the latter led the Prime to stairway and motion him down it. "The Director will see you now."

The woman then walked away, leaving Jack to head down the stairs alone. Once at the bottom he entered a small low lit room. He saw a large circle engraved into the ground and walked into it as a large humming sounded around him. Suddenly an energy wave scanned his entire body as the room changed around him. Once the transformation had finished he found he was standing in a large dark room, the only light coming from an orange holographic globe in its center.

"Welcome Jackson Prime." a voice spoke making Jack turn in its direction. He saw the silhouette of man with bright yellow optics staring back at him. But he could not tell what the man looked like due to the low light, his voice though was familiar.

"So you are the Director, not too enigmatic a title is it?" Jack replied sarcastically. The Director just looked at Jack before taking a sip from the glass in his hand.

"Well MECH has many enemies, so having an anonymous title like that insures security you understand." he replied calmly as Jack crossed his arms and just looked at the man, tying to guess who he is.

"Look, Miranda told me that you need my help, so lets not beat around the bush. Why did you bring me back?" Jack said coldly.

"Well, its nice to know that being dead for so long didn't leave you without that insolent tongue of your's Jack." the man replied, anger brewing in his voice. Then it dawned on the Prime who the Director was, as by instinct he equipped his weapon and pointed at the man.

"Silas!" he said angrily as the Director stepped out of the shadows and revealed himself.

"Well done Jack, its good to see your memory is still intact." he replied. Jack looked at the MECH leader. He appeared human, except for the yellow optics he had for eyes, but Jack could tell it was a pretender body that Silas was inhabiting.

"How did you survive the war, last thing I remember hearing of you was when Wheeljack and Smokescreen stopped you from killing Raf, Miko, Fowler and myself. But then you retreated and were never seen again." Jack said as he lowered his weapon.

"Ah yes, you see MECH managed to hook my body up to a cybertronian corpse that was once Breakdown. I then tried to join the Decepticons, but Megatron betrayed me and I was left in the sadistic hands of their doctor, the Con called Knockout. For the time since then I was dissected and probed, tortured. All so that the Decepticons could find out how mere humans could use their technology so efficiently." Silas replied while not taking his optics off the Prime.

"I have been through many trials in my life, but what that so called doctor put me through was like hell itself. Fortunately that came to an end the day that your Optimus Prime brought the Nemesis down with the, what was it called….ah yes the star saber. I managed to escape from my cell and take certain technology, technology that insures MECH's superiority over everyone else." he added, his face remaining stoic as he recalled the events.

"How did you manage to use a Pretender body, they are not exactly compatible with humans?" Jack asked. Silas smiled at Jack's curiosity.

"As I said, during my escape I managed to take certain tech including a Pretender body and I utilised it to my needs. By having my brain and certain organs replacing the synthetic ones in the pretender, I managed to circumvent the tech's need for a spark. Unfortunately the eyes were incompatible, so optics were used instead." he answered while gesturing to the yellow lights he had for eyes. His face then turned serious.

"I learned from my time with the Decepticons that the transformers will never be our allies, not completely and will always be a potential threat. Even now they supervise everything that we do, treating us like children. MECH is here to give humanity it's independence back and ensure that we stand above everyone else in the galaxy."

Jack looked at him and then faked a yawn.

"Okay, you can quit with the pitch there, I am not buying it. So are you going to tell me how and why you brought me back?" he asked getting annoyed with Silas.

"Of course down to business." the leader said, trying to not to sound too aggravated by Jack's insolence.

"You are the result of Project: Rebirth, the infusion of pretender and synthetic tech into what remained of your body. It took two years to rebuild and revive you but we need you exactly as you were. The man that defeated the Reaper Sovereign."

Jack listened to every word that Silas said, before answering.

"So it's the Reapers, what are they doing?"

Silas then walked closer to Jack, stopping just outside the circle that the Prime was standing in.

"No one wants to admit it, but we are at war. While you were gone entire human settlements have gone missing. I believe that it is someone working for the Reapers, just as Saren and Geth were before you stopped them. That's another reason why we need you."

Jack thought over what Silas told him, the MECH leader noticing this.

"You are still wondering why we need you. You are more than just a soldier or a Prime, you have become a symbol. A symbol that humanity and the galaxy need at this moment in time. I don't know what the Reapers fear, but you killed one. That should at least warrant respect and caution from them." he said as Jack mulled over all that was happening at that time.

"If what you are saying is true, then.." he bit his lip at the next thing he had to say, knowing that he would be crossing a line by helping them.

"..I would consider helping you." he answered. Silas smiled before waving his hand to the right, making a screen activate in front of Jack. "What you are seeing here is the latest colony to be attacked, it was called Freedom's Progress. Miranda and Arachnid who has been hired to help us, retrieved this footage from the colony's security cams."

Jack watched the footage and his eyes widened when he saw the creatures that attacked the colony.

"I have seen these before, in a vision that I was given from a Lithone beacon."

Silas nodded in agreement.

"Yes the beacon on Virmire. But I can save you the guessing game, they are called Quintessons."

Jack looked back at the MECH leader.

"Quintessons, I have never heard of them."

Silas then activated another screen which Jack looked at.

"They have only appeared in the Terminus systems in recent years, trading their technology for samples and trinkets Coming and going through the Omega four subspace rift, an anomaly that we believe used to be an active space bridge. The bridge itself was destroyed but the connection it made remains intact, unfortunately every ship that has passed through it has never returned."

Jack continued to look at the information that was on the screen before looking back to Silas.

"And your saying these attacks only happened after I defeated Sovereign." Jack replied.

"Yes, as you can see the connections are there. We just need more evidence to prove it. Therefore I have had a ship built for you and a crew to man it. I have also compiled a list of scientists, soldiers and Mercenaries for you to build your team." Silas replied while transferring information from his screen to Jack's holo-tool.

"You will be in command of the ship and I only have one order for you." Silas said, making Jack raise an eye brow in response.

"An order?" The Prime replied.

"I haven't agreed to help you yet, do you think that after everything you did in the past that I would just say yes?"

Silas stood there and looked at Jack, his yellow optics never betraying his stoic expression.

"Of course not Prime. I know that you are distrustful of me and MECH and that distrust is rightfully placed. But as of right now MECH are the only ones willing to do anything to stop the Quintessons and the Reapers."

"But what about the Alliance, surely I can get their help?" Jack tried to argue.

"The Alliance declared you KIA two years ago. Your rank of Commander is no longer viable. Plus the Council have put down all the talk of the Reapers as just nonsense that ended when Saren and the Geth were stopped. All of your former team mates have moved on too, their locations unknown at this time, except for Wrex who is back on Tuchanka trying to rally the clans behind one banner."

Jack looked away from Silas and thought for a moment. This was a difficult decision for him to make, to work with a known enemy of the Autobots. He then thought of Optimus Prime.

"Well, I want to speak to Optimus first."

"Well you can, here is the com link for you." Silas replied as a set holo-controls appeared next to the Prime, Jack was about to activate the link when Silas spoke again. _  
_

"But you do realize that you are wasting time, time that would be better spent out there" he said as he pointed away from himself to the space outside the station.

"Because two years have past and the Quintessons have gone about unchallenged in that time. Do you really want to waste more time, when I am offering you all the resources and help you will need to stop them now?"

Jack once again found himself at odds with his thoughts. He knew that something had to be done, though working with MECH left a nasty feeling in his heart. But he was still a Prime and it was his duty to protect the galaxy from any threat, even if it meant using unorthodox methods to achieve it.

"Alright, I will help you." Jack replied sheepishly.

"But I am not working for you, your people are working for me. Is that understood? he carried on as he stood firm and stoic.

Silas smiled at the Prime and the thought of having him work with MECH, hell he thought it was poetic.

"Of course, everyone on the ship is under orders to help you any way they can. But before you start, I do have a suggestion."

Jack crossed his arms and looked at the Director with a knowing look, but Silas was left unfazed.

"First head for the Omega station, there you will find the Spymaster and the mercenary that are on the list. The spymaster should be able to help you discover more information on the Quintessons." Silas replied as he took another sip from his drink.

"By the way I have chosen a pilot that you know well."

The Director then placed his drink back on the stand next to him, he then looked back at Jack.

"I brought you back Jackson Prime, it is up to you to do what needs to be done. Silas out." he finished as the room around Jack changed back to the low lit small room he had been in all along.

"Hey Prime, its been a long time." a familiar voice said making Jack look around in surprise.

**PRIME EFFECT 2**

Jack walked out with Hotrod beside him, both men smiling.

"I can't believe it's you Hotrod." Jack exclaimed as they walked through a room full MECH officers.

"Same here Prime, the last time I saw you, the Normandy exploded with you still on board."

Jack looked away, trying to banish those thoughts from his mind. "I got lucky, but with a lot of strings attached." he replied as they walked up a flight of stairs.

"Well I am glad you are back sir. It all fell apart after you died, everyone was reassigned or removed and I was grounded. The Council took almost complete control of the Alliance and put a stop to everything that you started." Hotrod replied while giving Jack a sorrowful look.

"Still it's the first time I have heard of an Autobot joining MECH." Jack answered back.

"Yeah well, the Council took away everything that I cared about in the Alliance. So hell yeah I joined MECH." the Autobot said determined.

"You cant seriously trust Silas?" Jack asked earning a curious look from the pilot.

"Silas is the director!" he answered before looking away for a moment. " It doesn't matter, he told me that he could bring you back and let me fly again, and he kept his word on both counts."

They both stopped at a large glass window and looked out into the darkness that inhabited the room ahead.

"Then there is also this." Hotrod said as he pointed at the window.

"I was told about it two nights a go."

They both looked out of the window to see the room light up showing them a ship that looked almost the same as the Normandy, but larger and more streamlined. It was also decorated in the colours of MECH, mainly black with gold and green highlights. Jack smiled at what he saw. Hotrod patted the Prime on the shoulder.

"She is a beauty isn't she Prime. You want to call her the Normandy again?" he asked smiling. Jack shook his head as his smile grew larger.

"No I have a better name for her." he said gaining a curious look from Hotrod.

The launch bay doors opened as the ship started to power up, the lights activating in the hanger to show the name DEFIANT printed on its hull in white bold lettering. Once the doors were fully opened, the ships engines fired and the Defiant flew out of the station's launch bay and into the space beyond, only jumping into hyperspace once it was a long enough distance away.


	3. Chapter 3

 

Jack entered the CIC with Miranda and looked around, it looked almost the same as the Normandy's CIC but far more advanced. He walked round the to the end of the Galaxy map table as a holographic model of the Defiant appeared.

"Welcome aboard the Defiant, Jackson Prime." she said as he continued to look around. Then an African American man stood beside Miranda and she motioned him to the Prime.

"This is Jacob Taylor, he is the ship's security chief and he also runs our armoury."

Jacob then offered his hand to Jack who excepted it.

"It's a great honour to meet you Prime." he said as Jack smiled back.

"Good to have you on the team Jacob." Jack replied.

He then turned back to Miranda.

"So who else is there for me to meet?"

Miranda looked over back to the elevator.

"Well you have already met Airachnid, she too is on this team. But she likes to remain alone on the lowest level of this ship."

Jacob crossed his arms and nodded in agreement.

"Yeah she isn't very social Prime, that's for sure." the operative added. Jack looked over to the elevator.

"I'm not sure what to make of her, she is certainly not acting at all like the Airachnid I remember..."

He then looked back to the others.

"...So anyone else?"

Miranda looked back at Jack.

"There is also Doctor Chakwas, she too joined MECH with Hotrod and asked for you to see her when you have a free moment."

Jack nodded and looked toward the Galaxy map.

"So what is our first move?" he asked. Then a synthetic voice spoke around them.

"I believe that locating the spymaster would be our best option."

Jack looked around.

"Who said that?" he asked as a yellow holographic sphere appeared on the galaxy map table.

"My name is Teletraan, and I am the Defiant's A.I ." it answered back. Jack crossed his arms and shook his head.

"Pilots don't like it when a computer takes control of their ship. Especially Hotrod." he replied.

"I do not pilot the ship, I only control the ship's defence and weapon systems while also advising the crew. And I know Hotrod quite well."

Jack looked towards the cockpit, to see the Autobot waving back,

"Yeah, I met an early version of Teletraan when it was installed on the Xantium. It was the ship that Optimus Prime and his team used to arrive on Earth."

The three humans walked up to the pilot as Teletraan appeared next to him.

"How did MECH get their hands on it then?" Jack asked.

"MECH managed to recover me when they found the Xantium buried in the side of a dormant volcano. After fifteen years of researching my program, they then updated me and installed me into the Defiant as the Director believed that I would be of best use on this mission." it finished as it disappeared. Jack turned to Hotrod.

"Set course for the Omega station, we will go and recruit the spymaster and the mercenary." he said as Hotrod saluted and took control of the ship, as Jack and the others walked away.

"It will take a few hours for us to reach our destination, I would suggest you get some rest before we arrive." Miranda said noticing the Prime's fatigue.

"Yeah okay, let me know if anything happens." He said as he walked to the elevator and left them.

**PRIME EFFECT 2**

_Jack found himself surrounded by darkness as he felt the agonizing pain in his chest again, when suddenly a blazing fire appeared around him. He panicked as looked for a way out, but found the fire was surrounding him in a circle. He then felt the air go cold, sub zero cold as the feel of it on his skin made his muscles ache causing him to fall to his knees. Then he heard footsteps approach him and he looked up to see Miko, Kaidan and Wheeljack standing above him, looking down at the Prime with hate in their eyes._

_"Why did you leave us to die?" Kaidan spat at him._

_"Why did you get this second chance friend." Wheeljack asked, not sounding anything like the Autobot Jack remembered. Miko then bent down to look at Jack, blood and burns covering her face._

_"You know in your 'heart' that you don't deserve to be a Prime, so let me rid you of it." she said gritting her teeth before plunging her hand into Jack's chest and pulling out his still beating heart, blood spilling out of his wound as he gasped before falling to the ground. He looked up with his dying breath, seeing the three smiling down at him, revelling in what they had done before everything faded to black._

Jack screamed as he rose out of the bed clutching his chest, looking around frantically and breathing heavily. When he saw that he was in his quarters with no light other than the low illumination from the star field that could be seen from the skylight above him, he calmed and looked down at himself. He was covered in sweat and as was his bed sheets. He got up and went into the bathroom, before activating the sink and splashing cold water on his face. He then looked at his reflection in the mirror and noticed a single tear running down his cheek. Before he could dwell on the nightmare he had, the intercom activated.

"Prime, it is Miranda. We are approaching Omega." she said causing Jack to turn off the tap and walk back to his bed before getting changed.

In the middle of a large asteroid field was the Omega Station. It was built into an fully mined out metallic asteroid and a red illumination glowed from the energy ring that surrounded the outer edges of the station. The Defiant flew up to it as it evaded the numerous random rocks that littered the field as it pulled into one of the many docking ports that the station had.

At the docking bay Jack, Miranda and Jacob exited the airlock and looked around. The station had a dirty brown colour scheme and the whole station had a rank stench to it. As they walked into a narrow corridor Jack's com link activated.

"Prime, Teletraan here. I have completed a scan of the station and believe that you will only find the spymaster when he wants you to find him."

Jack smirked at the A.I's honesty.

"Okay, what about Zaeed Massani?" he replied.

"I have scanned the information streams on the station's network and apparently he is here with the Blue Suns trying to kill another mercenary called Archangel. He is currently in the starboard section of the station." Teletraan said before cutting the link. Jack then looked back to the others.

"Okay we'll head over there now and get Zaeed." he said, the others nodded and they walked over to the nearest cab. But unbeknownst to them a biomechanical black Condor was sitting upon an antenna high above and was watching them curiously before taking flight and following the cab they had just got into.

The cab landed in an a rundown part of the station though Jack had noticed the whole station had looked run down. They got out of the cab to hear gunfire just up the street and ran toward it. They turned a corner to find a group of Blue suns mercs firing at an apartment balcony across the street from them. Jack looked out at the layout of the street and noticed that it had nearly no real cover spots. He then looked back to his team who were waiting beside him.

"It looks like Archangel is a sniper." he observed, making Jacob look at him confused.

"How did you work that out Prime?"

Jack motioned him to look out at the street's layout.

"You see how much open space is between here and the apartment building, there is no cover and the balcony that the sniper is at gives him perfect view of anyone trying to reach him."

As Jack was giving the operative a lesson in sniping, one of the blue suns tried to get closer to the block of apartments.

"Hey one is trying to get closer." Miranda observed as Jack and Jacob looked around the corner with her. The merc ran across the street to the other side trying to reach the doorway and use it as cover but before he made it half way across, his head suddenly exploded and his body fell to the floor.

"You fucking idiots, don't attack until I tell you to attack." came a grizzled voice as Jack and the others looked across to left hand side of the street to see an older man wearing worn out yellow and black armour yelling at his men while they hid in the alley way adjacent to the one Jack was in. Jack could see that the man had a scar on his face and that his right eye was blinded, the man then looked right at them.

"Hey you, get over here right now." he yelled.

Jack shrugged at Miranda and Jacob and the three sprinted across the open street to the other side.

Unbeknownst to them, Archangel had them in his sights. But when he saw the man with the specialized armour on, he suddenly froze. It was like he recognized the Man and so let him and the ones with him pass. Jack stopped when he got up to the older man.

"So who are you then and why would you be sneaking around this neighborhood?" he asked.

"My name is Jackson Prime and I am looking for Zaeed Masani?" he said stoically. The older man just looked at him, not very impressed.

"Well you found me…..wait your with MECH aren't ya." he replied as he looked over to Miranda and Jacob.

"Yeah I remember now, you want me to join your little mission to save the galaxy." he laughed as another blue sun merc poked his head around the corner, only to get it blown off. Zaeed then turned angry and looked at the man standing next to him.

"Vido, I told the men not to fucking move, now you better make sure they listen or I will have to find myself a new SIC. One that can actually follow fucking orders." he barked at the younger man, who nodded. But as Zaeed then turned back to the newcomers, Jack noticed that Vido then looked back at his boss with daggers before he turned round and scolded the men behind them.

"So I will join your team for the fee that your Director and I have agreed, but only after I have dealt with this matter." he gestured to the apartment block. Jack looked back at it curiously.

"What did this Archangel do to piss you off?" the Prime asked, gaining an angry look from the merc.

"He has been killing my men since we got here. No one attacks the Blue Suns and gets away with it." He ranted as Jack looked away suddenly remembering his last encounter with the same group on the Citadel two years prior. Zaeed looked at Jack while the Prime was reminiscing.

"Hey, what is it?" he snapped, bringint Jack back to the moment.

"Oh…what, nothing. Look, let us help." he asked as he gestured back to the street.

"If you hadn't noticed when we crossed that street, he did not take a single shot at us." Jack observed gaining a curious look from Zaeed.

"Yeah, I did notice that." he said slyly.

"Okay, you three keep him occupied while me and my boys take the back of the building. The slippery bastard blocked off the rear entrance, but while I had a few of my men keeping him distracted here. The rest were laying explosives to make us a hole we could get through."

Jack nodded and gestured back to Miranda and Jacob to head back to the street as Zaeed pushed Vido and lead the mercs around the other way.

"Do we really have time for this Prime?" Miranda asked with an agitated tone.

"We are only here to get Zaeed and the spymaster, we aren't here to do this merc's dirty work." she said coldly.

"I know, but I want to know why this Archangel didn't take the shot when he had the chance earlier." he answered back.

"Your thinking of recruiting him Prime?" Jacob asked intrigued by Jack.

"You know Zaeed might not like that?".

Jack smirked at him.

"One thing at a time Jacob. Now lets move." he said as the three of them entered the street. They tried to keep to whatever cover they could find, but they knew that they were easy targets for this Archangel. But yet he still did not fire at them. Jack was starting to get really confused by this as they made it to the apartment block entrance and then entered the building. There was no real light in there as they moved quietly with their weapons armed.

Jack was using his new favourite weapon, the mattock assault rifle. Jacob was using the rather rare Geth shotgun, Jack really should ask him about that weapon after the mission. Miranda was using a pair of SMG's which then had Jack thinking of Arcee. It was easy for him to let his mind wander whenever he thought of her. What she had been doing for the last two years, how his death had effected her. He hoped that she hadn't just shut herself off from everybody like she had after what happened to Cliffjumper, he would never want her to do that.

But he was suddenly brought back out of his thoughts at the sound of a sniper rifle being loaded. The three of them had now reached the same floor that the shooter was on and entered the apartment. They made their way, weapons ready to the balcony where they saw what looked like someone in Turian blue armour, with his face hidden under a helmet, while he hid behind the balcony wall. He saw the three of them and signalled them to stop before peeking over the wall and shooting another merc straight in the face. He then relaxed as he got up and walked back over to them before taking his helmet off. Jack's face lit up when he recognised who it was.

"Jack, I thought you were dead." a familiar voice spoke. Jack's smile went from ear to ear as he walked up to the sniper.

"Garrus, what are you doing here?" he asked happily. The Turian sighed as he placed his rifle against the wall.

"I'm just keeping my self busy, using these mercs for a little target practice." he replied. He looked at Jack's companions.

"Who are these two then?" he asked as the MECH officers looked at the two old friends.

"This is Miranda Lawson and Jacob Taylor, their with MECH. I am helping them on an important mission." Jack replied, gaining a look of surprise from the Turian.

"MECH, why are you….never mind, you can fill me in later. Now since there are four of us here, I suggest we take the offensive and get out of this dump." he replied gaining a nod of approval from Jacob. Jack though shook his head.

"Can't do Garrus, not without Zaeed." he replied as they all walked back into the apartment.

The Turian sported a confused look towards the Prime.

"The Blue Suns leader, why?"

"We are here to recruit him for our mission, I didn't even know you were here." Jack replied, as Miranda looked at the Turian.

"Aren't you trying to kill him?" she asked, as Garrus looked back at her.

"What, no. I was just killing his men."

Jacob gave him a knowing look as he crossed his arms.

"So that part of what Zaeed said was true then." he said as he looked towards Jack.

"Yes, but only because his men were killing innocent people here. I'm actually after his SIC, Vido. He is the one who has been giving those particular orders to the rest of that group."

Jack then looked back out of the doorway before motioning the rest of them to him.

"Well we better get moving, they thought that we would keep you busy while they come in through the back."

Garrus forced a laugh at the comment.

"Ha, I don't think so, not since I sealed that entrance when I got here."

Suddenly an explosion shook the place as Jack looked back at Garrus and sighed,

"Well it is not sealed anymore, better get ready." he replied as mercs stormed into the room and surrounded them, followed momentarily by Zaeed and Vido. The former looking enraged that the sniper wasn't dead.

"What the hell, I thought this bastard would be dead by now." He spat at Jack and the others while Vido and the mercs kept their weapons trained on them. Jack stepped forward.

"Zaeed, did you order your men to attack innocent people here on the station?" he asked. The merc leader looked at him confused.

"What are you talking about, I would never give such an order, not even if it was part of a job." he exclaimed honestly.

"I know, it was your SIC who did it." Garrus jumped in, staring daggers at the man standing next to the older man. But Zaeed laughed.

"Vido, why would you think….." he was cut off by sound of a gun being powered up and he turned to see Vido aiming it at his head.

"Vido, what the hell are you doing?" Zaeed questioned as the younger merc gave him a smirk.

"...After everything I did for you." the older man finished.

"Well, lets just say that there are many of us who are tired of being led by an old fool like you. It's time the Blue Suns took control of our own future." Vido replied, as Zaeed gritted his teeth and let his anger go into meltdown.

"OLD FOOL!, I'll show you who the fool is you little slimy git." he spat as he knocked the gun out of the traitor's hand and slammed his fist into Vido's face, knocking him into the wall behind him. Jack and his team suddenly raised their weapons and fired at the other shocked mercs, each falling to their gunfire.

With the blue sun mercs lying dead at their feet, Jack and Garrus walked over to Zaeed who picked up Vido by the neck and slammed him into the wall.

"Well now, isn't this a funny turn of events." he said as glared at the man now squirming in his grip.

"Ugh…. Zaeed, maybe we can talk about this." Vido pleaded as the older man equipped his pistol and placed it's barrel against the traitor's head.

"I don't think so. You know me Vido, you know how much I hate back-stabbing bastards." he said as his finger squeezed the trigger slowly. He then felt a hand on his shoulder and looked back to see Jack.

"Zaeed don't do this." the Prime reasoned. Zaeed gave Jack a surprised but angry look.

"Why the hell not, after all I have done for this bastard. He tried to stab me in the back."

Jack kept his calm, his face stoic as he carried on.

"It's just that it sounds like you two are close."

The older man looked back at Vido, his face a mixture of emotions.

"Yeah, I found him on the street as a child, raised him like my own flesh and blood."

Jack then stepped around to stand almost between the two.

"So if you kill him now, you may think that it is right thing to do. But it will haunt you for the rest of your life." he replied. Zaeed then looked down at the ground for a moment as he withdrew his pistol.

"You're right Prime."

He then pulled the man from the wall and threw him to the ground in front of Garrus.

"He's all yours Archangel, show the little shit what happens to murderers."

Garrus looked at the older man confused before looking down at Vido who was almost cowering on the floor.

"Doesn't seem to be your day does it." he said casually as he equipped his pistol and pointed it down at the traitor.

"This is for all those innocents lives you have taken here."

Vido though didn't flinch as he smiled back at the Turian.

"Go to hell, all of you!" he spat as Jack noticed him pulling a grenade from his utility belt.

"Everybody down!" Jack shouted as Vido pressed down on the trigger before it exploded sending everyone in to the walls as the room collapsed in on itself.

As the dust settled and the room was no more, Jack woke up with his ears ringing from the blast. He shook his head to rid himself of it as he looked around the room.

"Is everyone alright?" he said aloud as a number of grunts got his attention as Zaeed pushed a piece of rubble off of himself.

"I'm fine Prime." Zaeed replied as he and Jack looked back to see Jacob, helping Miranda up, both of them had some cuts and bruises.

"We are alright too, nothing the doctor cant fix." Jacob replied. But as Jack got up he looked around the room. First at the spot where Vido once was, nothing more than a large blood stain that carpeted the ground and the wall next to it. But then another body got his attention and it was pinned down by a large piece of concrete.

"Garrus" Jack shouted as he ran over to his friend and knelt down beside him.

"Garrus you okay, answer me mate?" he said as Zaeed came round and with Jack, they lifted off the concrete revealing the Turian lying on the floor. Jack got back down and looked closely at his friend. Garrus opened his eyes and coughed as blood dripped onto the floor, as he then started to breath heavily.

"Garrus, we'll get you out of here." Jack answered back, his voice breaking as he fumbled his com link.

"Defiant. This is Prime, we need a medical team over here immediately." he said as the team surrounded the wounded Turian.

**PRIME EFFECT 2**

Back on the Defiant, Jack and Jacob were talking in the briefing room. Jack was looking concerned as the operative told him the news, the operative's face looking grim.

"It was a close call Prime, but the Doctor was able to save Garrus. She used surgical procedures and some synthetics to repair the damage. According to her report he should have full functionality, but still…" the security chief was cut of when the door opened and Garrus strolled in like nothing had happened. Both men looked stunned as the Turian entered the room. You could see the scarring on the right side of his face and the bandages that covered some of it.

"Jack" he said casually. Jacob just chuckled in reaction to the sight in front of him.

"Tough son of bitch, didn't think he would be up yet." he said as Jack turned and smiled at his friend. Garrus joined them at the table.

"No one will hand me a mirror, tell me honestly. How bad does it look?" he asked gesturing to his face, Jack though just grinned at him.

"Garrus you were never a looker, just slap some face paint there and no one will notice."

The Turian chuckled at the comment before placing his hand over his jaw in slight pain.

"awwgh, don't make me laugh. My face is barely healed as it is. But then again I have heard some women like facial scars, unfortunately most of them are Krogan."

Jack shook his head and chuckled before looking back at him.

"What about Tali, I thought you two were getting along great." he replied.

"Really… I hadn't noticed, besides I haven't seen her since she returned to the flotilla just a few weeks after the destruction of the Normandy." the Turian said. Jacob then saluted Jack and left the two alone, Garrus watching him leave before turning back to the Prime. His face becoming serious.

"I'm actually more worried about you, I've heard things about MECH over the last two years, none of them good.

Jack leaned back against the table and relaxed.

"Well that's why I'm glad you are here Garrus. If I am heading into hell, I want a friend at my side."

The Turian looked back at Jack and cocked his head.

"You do realise that this has me going into hell too..." he then chuckled.

"...Just like old times. I am ready to join your team if you want me."

Jack walked up to him and slapped him on he shoulder.

"You never needed to ask Garrus." he answered smiling at him. They then both walked out of the briefing room and back into the CIC.

"Well then, I better make myself at home then. I will head down and see what I can do with your ship's weapon systems." Garrus replied as he headed off to the elevator. Jack was about to walk up to the cockpit when Miranda stopped him.

"Prime we are receiving a signal from the station. It's of Decepticon origin." she replied as Jack looked at the red blip that had appeared on the holographic model of the station in front of them.

"Well then I guess we should take a look, don't you?" he replied as Miranda nodded in agreement and they both walked to the elevator.

In the depths of the Omega station, Jack and Miranda had been following the signal for the last twenty minutes. They were in the middle of a cramped corridor when the officer stopped Jack.

"The signal stops directly 20 feet in front of us." she said looking down to the map on the holo-tool. Jack nodded in acknowledgement as they both equipped their weapons and carried on moving, exiting the corridor and entering a large open space where they could see a view of the station's asteroid that it was connected to. They both looked around them but saw nothing.

"I don't get it, the signal stops right here." Miranda said annoyed as Jack kept his guard up. There attention was suddenly caught by a growling that could be heard in a shadowed area to their right. They both turned and pointed their guns as a panther, baring its fangs and starring at them with its bright yellow eyes. Jack's attention though was caught by the sight of a black condor flying low toward them. It flew over and the Prime watched it as it landed on the outstretched arm of a thin Caucasian man with brown clean tidy hair and wearing dark blue armour with purple neon lights. His face was completely emotionless as he stared back at the two humans.

"Soundwave." Jack observed, the former con nodded back in return.

"So I guess that is Laserbeak and the big cat over there is Ravage." Jack said as the Panther stopped growling, and cocked its head in response, looking confused.

The spymaster nodded again, making Jack sigh.

"You still don't talk do you?" he asked slightly annoyed, yet Soundwave just stood there and looked at him. Jack suddenly felt the need to move things along.

"So Soundwave, we are here to recruit you for a dangerous mission. Have you heard of the Quintessons?" Jack asked gaining a nod from the spymaster.

"Will you help us?" Jack asked as he approached the former con. Soundwave just stared at him before his attention was caught by Laserbeak squawking as it looked up to the level above. Both Jack and Miranda looked up too as Ravage sniffed the air before growling up to the spot they were all looking at.

Suddenly a loud high pitch sound echoed through the area making Jack and Miranda grab at their ears in pain as they fell to the ground. A figure then jumped down and attacked Soundwave. Laserbeak flew at the mystery attacker but was swatted away easily as Ravage pounced at him. But the man just turned to look at it and the panther fell to the ground in a heap as it's sound attack pierced its ears, incapacitating it. The mystery attacker then turned his attention to Soundwave as the others were recovering from the sonic attack. He pulled out a blade and swung at the former con, but Soundwave caught the blade easily and knocked it away, forcing the attacker to use the sonic attack on him. But it did not faze Soundwave as he walked up to the man and grabbed him by the throat. Jack looked up to see this and suddenly heard a recording of Megatron's voice play which made him almost jump out his skin.

"Frenzy!" Soundwave played the clip before throwing the attacker to the ground. Jack and Miranda recovered and aimed their weapons at the man on the floor. They now had a good look at him, they saw that he was wearing a bright blue armour.

"Frenzy?, I haven't seen him since the end of the war." Jack said as Soundwave bent down next to Frenzy.

"You must die, my master calls for it." the former con admitted as Soundwave held a hand over his face. Small tentacles slid out of each of his fingers and latched onto Frenzy's face. He then started to fidget and shake as the spymaster started to probe his mind. Jack and Miranda watched in stunned silence as Ravage joined them with Laserbeak on its back. After a moment Soundwave detached from Frenzy and stood above him. Jack looked at the former con's face and could of sworn that he could almost see sadness in his face.

"You will not escape your fate, and neither will your former mini-cons." Frenzy said sounding cryptic before his eyes went dead and his body fell limp on the ground. Ravage went over to the body and hung its head over it, mourning it's former comrade. Jack walked over to Soundwave and placed a sympathetic hand on the spymaster's shoulder.

"I'm sorry Soundwave, if you join my team and help us fight the Quintessons,then I give you my word that we will help you find out who has done this." Jack said in calm, stoic manner. Soundwave looked back at Jack and nodded, his face as stoic as ever. Jack then placed his hand to his com link.

"Hotrod, we are on our way back."

Then the three humanoids and the two mini-cons left the area and back to the Defiant.


	4. Chapter 4

 

Jack woke suddenly to find himself soaked in sweat again for the fifth night in a row since they picked up Zaeed and Soundwave from Omega. He got up and looked out of the window to the stars as they zipped past while the Defiant travelled in hyperspace. It had been the same nightmare, he could not help but think about what he had seen. He wondered why he had been brought back, why he deserved this second chance and not his friends who had given their lives in the fight against Sovereign. He couldn't help but feel that he shouldn't be there, that his time had passed. He sighed as he turned and went into the bathroom and cleaned himself up before getting dressed.

' _Since I can't get any sleep, might as well go for a walk._ ' he thought.

The elevator opened on the Engineering deck as Jack stepped out and looked down the corridor. He had not been on this deck yet since he had come aboard and decided to take a look around, see if that could get his mind off of the thoughts that had been plaguing his mind lately. He entered engineering and saw only a handful of crewmen going about their duties.

_'Must be the night shift.'_  he thought as took note of the time on his holo-tool. It was still early in the morning (earth time) and he walked back out of the room to find a staircase leading to the bottom level of the ship. Jack walked down, just a little curious to see what was down there. When he reached the bottom a familiar voice caught his attention.

"Can't sleep Jack?"

He looked to find Airachnid lying on her berth, looking at him in a way that still baffled him.

"What makes you say that?" he replied as she sat up, looking him up and down.

"Well here you are walking around the ship at just past three o'clock in the morning, and by the look of your eyes, this isn't the first time either. Am I right?" she asked in a gentle tone.

"Look I'm sorry for waking you, I'll be going." he said as he turned to leave, feeling like he needed to get out of there quick.

"What's the rush Jack?" she asked back casually. He turned round and looked back at her.

"What is going on, why are you acting like this around me?" she continued, getting slightly annoyed by the Prime's behaviour.

Jack looked at her confused by the question, before his face suddenly became serious.

"Well for one, the last time I saw you. You tried to kill me and my mom, then after that you tried to Arcee god knows how many times." he said with anger building in his voice. Airachnid just looked at the ground in response to Jack, her face a mixture of emotions that Jack could not believe he was seeing. She looked shocked and hurt. The Prime now felt a little guilty despite it being for someone that a number of years ago had been trying to kill him, so he walked over to her and sat beside her on her berth.

"I'm sorry." he said sheepishly. She looked back at him, then nodded in appreciation.

"It's my fault, I should have known you would act like this even after all this time." she replied.

"What do you mean? Airachnid don't take this the wrong way, but you are confusing the hell out of me right now."

She then looked ahead for a moment before sighing and looking back at the Prime.

"Let's just say I am not the same Airachnid that you knew."

Jack was now more confused than ever.

"What do you mean?" he asked.

"I mean that I….." she was cut off by Hotrod's voice coming over Jack's com link.

"Sorry if I woke you Prime, but I have the Director on the line. He says it's urgent." the Autobot said. Jack tapped his com link and answered.

"Okay I am on my way, Prime out." he replied before looking back at the femme sitting beside him.

"Back on the MECH station, you said you would tell me everything, I am going to hold you to that." he said, gaining a nod from her as he stood up and walked back to the stairs.

"But Jack, I want something in return." she answered, making him look back at her.

"What's that?" he asked.

"You tell me what has you walking around at this time of the morning." she said. Jack looked away for a moment, mulling over what she had just asked. He didn't know why, but he felt he could trust this version of the femme if that was the best way to describe her. He also knew that the best way to deal with the nightmares he was having was to talk about them, and for some strange reason he felt that she maybe the best one to talk too on the Defiant. He looked back at her and a gentle smile appeared on his face.

"Alright then, I guess I'll speak to you later then." he answered before turning and leaving the area. Airachnid then just sat there, a smile gracing her lips as she thought about what had just transpired. She knew that Jack would be hesitant to trust her at first considering their history, but maybe if he knew the truth about her then maybe that would change.

Silas stood, basking in the illumination of the orange holo-globe as he waited for a call. Then Jackson Prime appeared as a hologram just behind the him.

"Prime, I think we finally have them." he said as the orange orb took on the look of a planet.

"The former Alliance colony on Horizon just went silent. If they are not under attack, they soon will be. Has Soundwave found anything that could help us from all the data MECH has on the Quintessons?"

Jack crossed his arms and looked back a little disappointed.

"Not yet, he as been at it for the last five days."

Silas turned around and looked at Jack, his yellow optics glowing brightly.

"Well since he used to work for Megatron, he should know how to work well under pressure. Also there is something you should know. A member of your former crew is on Horizon, the Autobot called Arcee."

Jack's eyes widened at the mention of her name.

"Why would she be at the colony?" he asked, trying to hide the worry in his voice.

"It seems that she was sent to the colony to oversee the refit of its defences. Sort of an olive branch to the colonists by the Alliance, since the colony broke away due to the Council taking control of them." He then saw the worry that Jack was trying hard not to show.

"But what I am more interested in is why the Quintessons would choose to attack a planet, knowing your former team mate is there."

Jack's face then became serious.

"I think that is way beyond coincidence. We'll head there now." he answered stoically.

"Just make sure you stop them, because this is the most warning we have ever had Prime." Silas said as Jack's hologram then ended and left the Director on his own again.

Jack walked into the science lab and was immediately met by Ravage who stood in his way, growling at him. Jack though had no time for this and walked straight past it, making it look at him confused while the Prime carried on towards the spymaster who was typing at a console with Laserbeak perched on his shoulder.

"Soundwave do you have anything that can help us, because we are about to have a run in with the Quintessons." Jack asked, the only reaction the former con showed was to point to another screen. Jack walked over and looked at the data on it. After a moment of reading, a smile appeared on his face.

"Do you really think this will work?" he asked and Soundwave turned and faced the Prime, his face still emotionless as he nodded back.

**PRIME EFFECT 2**

At the colony two women were walking past one of the grey, simple looking buildings. One was a Caucasian woman with long brown hair and the other was Arcee in her blue and black armour.

"How is refit going?" the woman asked. The femme sighed before looking back to the Human.

"Not well, we are still having trouble with the guidance systems. Jessica, it would help if some of the colony's engineers would lend a hand." she answered irritably.

Jessica just shrugged.

"Sorry, but the others just want you and the Alliance engineers gone. They just don't trust them anymore."

Arcee looked at her disappointed.

"That is understandable, even I don't like all the rules and procedures that the Council has put in place since the Alliance joined them. I just know things would be different if only…" she stopped as she looked out over the to the mountainous region that surrounded the south west area of the colony, she held the dog tags that she was wearing around her neck tightly. This did not go unnoticed by Jessica.

"Your thinking about Jack again aren't you?" Jessica decided to ask seeing the pain that the Autobot was trying to hide. Arcee just ignored her and looked away, but that wasn't going to stop the human who pushed on.

"You have been here for the last six months helping us refit, and I have never seen you take off those dog tags."

Arcee looked down at them as she held them in her hands, she saw the name inscribed on them and all the memories came flooding back. A single tear rolled down her cheek as Jessica placed a hand on her shoulder.

"You know you can talk to me Arcee, we are friends after all." she said in a gentle sympathetic tone. The femme wiped the tear away before looking back at the Human woman.

"I know and thank you, but I am alright." she replied trying to smile back at her friend.

"Arcee I know you loved him, but it has been two years, surely its time to let go. I don't think Jack would want you to do this to yourself for the rest of your life." she replied. Arcee's face became stoic as she looked at Jessica.

"No, I cant. You see the last thing I was about to speak to Jack about before the Normandy was attacked…" she took a breath before continuing.

"…was about bonding, becoming spark mates."

Jessica looked at the femme thoughtfully.

"Is that like getting married?"

Arcee continued to look at Jessica, but then shook her head in response.

"No, its more than that. When two cybertronians become spark mates, its not just their love that binds them together but also their loyalty. They have to stay loyal to each other, even after one of them dies."

Jessica looked at Arcee, shock evident on her face.

"Wow, that's a big step..." she then looked away before looking back.

"...I don't know if I could make a decision like that."

Arcee smiled at her.

"If you met the one, then you would know with absolute certainty. Just like I did with Jack." she said with a slight smile as she remembered him. Jessica was going to reply but then noticed the sound of thunder in the distance. They both looked around confused as dark clouds appeared on the horizon.

"I thought the weather report was clear skies today." Jessica observed as the sky continued to darken.

"That was what I heard too." the femme replied as they noticed that everyone around them was looking towards the storm clouds that were closing in. Arcee stood up and looked up to see something in the clouds and getting larger.

"What is that?" Jessica asked as a giant ship dropped below the clouds and hovered over the colony.

"Get all the colonists into the safe house now!" she urged Jessica as she equipped her SMG's. Jessica nodded before running over to a group of colonists and ushering them away. Then Arcee's eyes went wide when she saw a group of colonists disappear in a green flash of light. Then as Arcee noticed more of the colonists vanish, she suddenly thought of her friend and ran back.

"Jessica, Jessica!" she shouted as the colonists who had noticed the others vanishing had started to panic and run amok as the colony descended into chaos. The femme then spotted her friend near the colony's square.

"Jessica." Arcee called out gaining the Human woman's attention. Then suddenly as Jessica looked back at the femme, she became engulfed in green light before she disappeared right before Arcee's eyes. She stood there completely shocked before being snapped out of it by a gunshot going straight by her head. She then dived behind cover as another one went right over her as she hid. She peeked over to see what had shot at her. It had green and purple metal armour and spikes on it shoulder pads, its face was covered by a green visor that had two horns, one either side of its head.

The only feature of it's face that could be seen was it's bright red optics as it stared in her direction. Arcee then noticed two others join it as they moved close to her position. The femme then took a deep breath before firing on the three as more of the colonists were teleported away and more enemies appeared on the ground was the mysterious ship remained above the colony.

The Defiant jumped out of hyperspace above the planet as the shuttle bay opened and a shuttle left the ship and descended into the atmosphere. Onboard was Jack in his Prime armour along with Garrus and Jacob who performing final checks on their weapons.

"Defiant to shuttle one, we have activated the teleport disrupter that Soundwave attached to our sensor grid. It should stop the Quintessons from teleporting any more of the colonists, as long as the Defiant remains in range of the colony." Hotrod said over the com link.

"And with the their cruiser hovering over the colony, we have to find a way to make it land so we can extract the colonists it has already taken." Jack replied.

"Yes, the colony has a population of fifteen thousand colonists, but we are only detecting six thousand and two hundred still down there. Do you want the Defiant to try and bring it down?" the pilot asked.

"No, keep the ship where it is. Can't risk anything happening to the Defiant while it keeps their teleporters offline, plus with what happened to the Normandy I think it's best to play it safe. Maybe we can use the colony's defence cannon emplacements against the cruiser, that's what they are there for."

Jack then heard Teletraan over the com link.

"My scanners show that the defence cannon guidance systems are not operating efficiently. If you can make it to the control console and give myself a direct link. The I believe that I can correct it."

Jack nodded in acknowledgement.

"Okay then that is the plan, landing team out." he answered as he turned to Jacob and Garrus.

"Right the here is the plan, we have detected that the Quintessons have soldiers on the ground, so we land and make our way to the defence network and turn it on the enemy cruiser. Understood?"

Both nodded back as Jack turned to the window and watched as the shuttle hit the atmosphere.

**PRIME EFFECT 2**

At the colony, Arcee found her self besieged by more of the enemy soldiers as they had her trapped in one of the supply buildings, she had to dive in there to get out of the line of fire since more of the enemies had appeared. Then as a group of them kept her busy, the rest are rounding up the remaining colonists and escorting them back to the ship which had landed at the edge of the colony. She wanted to try and help them but she could not get out of this damn building. She peek out from behind the cargo container she was using as cover to see one soldier at the west side window, and one at the north side entrance and one more at the east side window. She knew there were two more soldiers about, but did not know their locations. She then thought she heard the distinct sound of a sonic boom in the sky.

' _Sounds like a ship breaking through the atmosphere at speed.'_ she thought.

' _Could it be help, I don't see how, I never had the chance to send a distress signal._ ' She then heard the ship fly over the building towards the north end of the colony as gunfire followed, the soldiers outside firing at it, taking their attention away from her.

_'This is my chance.'_  she thought as she ran out from cover and fired both her SMG's at both soldiers to her left and right, killing them instantly. She then equipped her arm blades as she pounced at the soldier at the door and slashed at it as they fell through the entrance and onto the ground outside. As it lied dead, she then rolled onto her back and fired her weapons at the two soldiers who were hidden to her before, but she could see them clearly on the building's roof. She then stood up and looked toward where the shuttle had headed as the two bodies landed on the ground either side of her. She then took off in that direction, hoping to meet up with whoever the newcomers were.

The shuttle landed on the ground and as the several Quintessons gathered near the shuttle's hatch, it suddenly sprang open and Jack, Garrus and Jacob rushed out, guns blazing as the enemies had not time to react as one after the other, they fell. As soon as they had the immediate area cleared, the shuttle took off and headed back out into the sky. Jack looked out over the colony and saw the Quintesson cruiser on the ground on the other side.

"Well that has made things easier, don't you think?" Garrus observed as Jack nodded.

"Yes, but we can still use the cannons to make sure it stays down. Now we know why they have feet on the ground, its so they can grab the remaining colonists."

He then looked back at both his team mates.

"We have to hurry!"

They then ran into the Colony grounds as they made their way to the Colony's defence mainframe. They came across many of the Quintessons as they worked their way through the colony, but each and every time the enemy fell to team as Jack lead the way, taking out enemies at range with his mattock rifle or cutting down any who got to close with his energy blade. Garrus used his sniper rifle to blow the heads off any Quintessons who tried to flank them from the distance. And Jacob used his shotgun to scatter the enemy's insides out on to the ground behind them.

It was at that moment that Jack caught the attention of a group of Quintessons escorting some colonists to their ship. The Enemy instantly fired on the would be rescuers who dived behind the nearest cover as the colonists watched in fearful hope.

"Careful with your shots, we have friendlies mixed with hostiles." Jack observed, the others nodded. Jack looked to his right and saw a path littered by cargo containers that he could use to sneak behind the enemies.

"You two, keep their attention on yourselves while I sneak behind them."

Garrus smiled back at Jack.

"Do you want me to show them my scars while we are at it?" he replied jokingly.

"We don't want to scare them off Garrus." the Prime chuckled.

"Very funny Jack." the Turian replied. Jacob looked back at Jack.

"We've got this, go Prime."

Jack acknowledged and started to move along the cover, staying low so that the Quintessons would not notice him. The colonists cowered as the enemy surrounded them, continuing to exchange fire with the two newcomers. One was a small child who was being cradled in the arms of his mother.

"I'm scared mommy." he cried as she held him close.

"Everything's going to be alright." she replied, her voice trying to hide the fear she had for her child, it was at that moment she saw something in the corner of her eye. A figure sneaking up behind one of her captors, he looked somehow familiar as he then stabbed one enemy in the back, making it spasm as the others turned to face him. The man then used the body he was holding as a shield as they fired their weapons at him. He fired back with his own, taking out another one as two of the others were shot through the back of their heads by the two attackers hiding behind cover. The last Quintesson then charged at the man who threw the corpse he had been using as a shield to the ground and swung his energy blade at the enemy's throat, slicing it's head off as it bounced along the grassy floor.

With the Quintessons dead, the colonists stood up and looked at their rescuers. Jack stood in the middle of the group as the mother looked up at him.

"It's alright, you are safe now." Jack said to the group as Garrus and Jacob joined them. They then ushered the group into one of the empty buildings as the mother and child looked at Jack.

"Who are you?" the mother asked.

"I am Jackson Prime." Jack answered gaining a lot of gasps and talking through out the group.

"That's the first Human Prime, I thought he was dead."

The mother smiled back before turning away, Jack then noticed the child in her arms wave back at him.

"Hey, guess who has a new fan." Garrus observed, gaining a chuckle from Jacob. Jack though looked back to the defence mainframe, his face reaming stoic.

"None of this will matter if we can not get the defence systems on-line. Lets go!"

When they made it to the Defence mainframe, they found that the console was out in the open with only a scattering of possible cover around it. Jack moved over to the control console and immediately accessed his holo-tool.

"Teletraan I am connecting an uplink between the colony's cannons and your systems. How long will it take for you to correct the errors in their sub routines?" he asked as his team mates kept an eye out.

"It should take a few minutes for me to alter the code and then power up the cannons…you should take cover and prepare to defend your position, I have detected a large number of Quintessons approaching you from all directions."

Jack the gestured to Garrus and Jacob to take positions on either side of the console as he saw the enemies approaching.

"Okay we just need to hold them off until Teletraan has control of the defences. Choose your targets and make each hit count."

They then crouched behind their respective cover and held their weapons ready. The enemy troops then charge into the area.

"Open Fire!" Jack shouted as the three of them fired at the Quintessons who fired back as their ran towards them. One after one, the emery fell as Jack and his team held them off. It was like this for a number of minutes, longer than Teletraan had told them.

"I though it would be done by now, I am running low on ammo." Garrus said he took down another Quintesson with a head shot.

"We just need to hold on a little longer." Jack called back as he shot the legs from under one enemy as it fell to the ground before having its head riddled with bullets from Jack who turned his attention to another which was charging at him from his left.

" I am nearly out." Jacob exclaimed as the enemy forces began to surround the team. Jack took a quick glance at his weapon's ammo read out and shook his head gently while still firing at the enemy.

' _This will be cutting it close._ ' he thought just as, like something had answered his prays the giant cannons, that surrounded the colony turned towards the Quintesson cruiser and opened fire on it. The ships hull was covered in explosions from the impacts upon its hull. The enemy troops stopped and looked back before falling dead to the ground.

Jack and his team then felt a rumble along the ground as the Cruiser's engines activated and the ship lifted off the ground while still taking a pummelling from the colony's defence cannons. They watched as the cruiser then turned and flew back out into space leaving the colony behind.

Jack then turned back to Jacob.

"Go and make sure the colonists back there are alright."

The operative nodded and ran back the way the team had came.

"Jack, come here and look at this." the Turian called to the Prime.

Jack turned around to see Garrus kneeling down and examining one of the Quintesson corpses.

"What have you found?" he asked as Garrus scanned it with his holo-tool. He then looked back at Jack, his face surprised by what he saw.

"Jack, these things are just drones. They are completely synthetic, not even alive."

Jack looked down at the body.

"Still doesn't tell us what they are doing abducting human colonies, but at least we stopped them this time."

Garrus nodded as Jack's com link activated.

"Prime, thought you would like to know the cruiser has jumped away, didn't even say hello to us." Hotrod answered.

"Be thankful it didn't. Not quite ready to lose another ship just yet."

"Not to worry, I wouldn't let them sucker punch us again like last time." the pilot chuckled.

"So how much of the colony have saved?" Jack asked.

"Well the number of life signs at the colony is less than seven thousand, so the Quintessons still managed to get away with at least half of the colonists."

Jack's face went sombre at that comment as Garrus stood beside him.

"Jack, its better than the whole colony." he said sympathetically.

The Prime sighed heavily, knowing that his friend was right. He then placed his hand to his com link in his right ear, he was about to speak when…

"Jack?" a voice that he knew only too well spoke behind him. Jack's eyes widened and his body went stiff for a moment before he slowly turned to face a woman with blue hair and electric blue eyes staring back at him in shock. For a long moment the two just stared at each other in silence before the Prime decided to speak first.

"Yes Arcee, it's me." he answered, his voice a little shaky. The femme walked over to Jack and placed a hand on his cheek, as if to check that he was in fact real. Then suddenly she jumped him and wrapped her arms around his torso in a tight embrace as she buried her face in his neck. Jack returned the embrace as he felt tears wet the skin of his neck as Arcee gently cried. He could not explain how good it felt to have his lover in his arms. He felt complete again.

"I cant believe it, your back. But I saw the Normandy blow up." she said in disbelief as she looked back at Jack who wiped away the wet streaks on her face, making her blush slightly.

"I did die, but I have been given a second chance." he replied, gaining a confused look from his lover.

"What do you mean, what happened to you?" she asked.

"It's a long story and I want to tell you everything but we should get back to the ship, we can talk more there." he replied. Jack knew that his resurrection and who he is working with now would be a dangerous topic to speak to her about, but he had faith that if there was one person in his life that would stand beside him, it would be her. He smiled at her and she returned it in kind as they held each other for a little while longer.

"Prime the rest of the colonists are fine and they send their thanks." Jacob called to the Prime as he approached the group. Arcee looked at the man coming towards them.

"Who is that?" she asked curiously.

"His name is Jacob and he is a member of my crew." Jack replied somewhat sheepishly, noticing her face go stern as she looked the newcomer up and down. Her eyes then arrowed and focused on the symbol that was on his chest. Her eyes suddenly looked angry when she recognised it and pulled one of her SMG's out and aimed it a Jacob who looked back in shock. She was about to pull the trigger when Jack pulled the gun away from the operative, making Arcee look back at him in angry confusion as they separated.

"He is with MECH, why in the pits of Kaon is MECH here." she shouted at Jack as he tried to remain calm.

"Arcee, it was MECH that brought me back." he answered, Arcee looking back at him confused.

"They brought you back." she replied as she looked at Jacob with daggers before looking back at her lover.

"Yes, and in return I am helping them to stop the Quintessons from attacking any more Human colonies. That's who the aliens were that attacked this planet."

Arcee just looked at Jack.

"Quintessons? I thought they were a just some old legend." she said.

"They are working for the Reapers, Arcee." the Prime continued.

Arcee looked back at Jack and crossed her arms.

"And how do you know that Jack, I mean how do you know that MECH aren't messing with your head to make you believe that it is the Reapers?"

Jack's face became stoic as he stood in front of her.

"Because I saw them in the vision that the beacon at Virmire gave me. There is no way that Silas would be able to gain that information." he replied, which made Arcee's eyes widen in shock.

"SILAS, he's alive!, why in the all-spark would you work with the man who tried to kill you, me and your mother. Do you remember what he did during the war, and yet you can still work with him." she snapped, her voice filled with anger.

"Arcee, I don't have choice here." he replied as he tried to get his point across.

"Of course you do. don't give me that scrap." she bit back, as Jack became more anxious.

"No I don't. I am a Prime remember, and it is my duty to protect this galaxy from any threat, even if that means that I to choose a side to do it." he bit back, making the femme lose some of the anger she was showing as she started to close the distance between the two of them.

"But Jack, you said they brought you back. Isn't it possible that they could have altered you in some way, so that you would be willing to help them."

Jack's eyes widened at the comment.

"How can you say that?" he replied in shock.

Arcee though tried to stay calm.

"It's just that the Jack I remember, the man I fell in love with. Would never work with a monster like Silas."

Jack looked away for a moment and thought about her words. It was true, before he had died he never would have considered working with MECH after everything that he had seen them do. So why was he now so willing to help. He was snapped out of his thoughts by Arcee placing a finger on his chin, bring his attention back to her.

"I am that same person Arcee. It's just that with the Alliance unable to do anything because of the Council's inability to believe in the threat posed by the Reapers, I have to work with the ones that are willing to do something about it."

The femme's eyes widened as she pulled herself from him, backing away slowly .Her mouth hung open slightly at the shock of his words.

"I can't believe I just heard you say that." she answered, her voice becoming angry, but also with a sadness to it.

Garrus decided to jump in to Jack's defence.

"Arcee, believe me it is Jack, we…" he said before being cut of by the femme.

"Garrus don't, you don't know what MECH are like. Not like I do..." she answered back before looking directly at Jack again.

"... and like you do."

Jack could feel that he was losing her and so stepped forward and held out his hand to her. She looked down at it for a moment before her eyes met his again.

"Arcee, please come with me, I need you." he said gently as he saw the internal struggle that she was fighting but trying to hide.

"I cant do this without you." he finished as she looked back at him. A single tear running down her cheek. She then shook her head and stepped back, increasing the distance between them.

"I can't, you might be able to put the past behind you for the sake of the mission, but I cant. Not like this, I cant be with you while you are with them. I am sorry." she replied her voice breaking as she looked at him one last time before turning around and walking away from the Jack who suddenly found himself very lost as she gripped his dog tags tightly. He just stood there and watched as the woman he loved left him behind. He felt like his heart had just been shattered into a million pieces by the one he cared about the most. Garrus stood beside his friend and placed a hand on Jack's shoulder sympathetically, as Jacob kept his distance, mentally kicking himself for what just happened. Jack then sighed heavily as he reached up to his com link.

"Hotrod send the shuttle, I have had enough of this place."


	5. Chapter 5

 

Jack walked about the ship in a trance-like state, as he tried to put his thoughts in order. The young Darby had just come back from the debriefing with Silas, and the Director was lucky that he was not in the same room as Jack. He had made the mistake of asking the Prime if he had put his relationship with Arcee behind him, but the pain he felt from their separation was still raw and being questioned like that had felt like someone had grabbed his heart and squeezed it until there was nothing but mushy paste left. Jack still couldn't believe that Arcee wouldn't even hear him out.

He thought back to all the times during the twilight years that he and the femme had talked about the loss of her partners and her need to avenge their deaths. Earlier in their partnership she had jumped at the chance at killing the ones who were responsible, and yet he felt that he was finally getting through to her after she captured Airachnid and then not even attempting to finish her off when she was in stasis at the silo. She even let Starscream live when she had the opportunity, and stopped her team mates when they were in similar situations.

She had looked like someone who had finally put the past behind her, but yet she could not give him the benefit of the doubt when he told her he was working with MECH. He could understand her reasons, such as what they put himself and his mother through and the numerous other times they tried to kill the bots for their tech.

He was so caught up in his own thoughts that he did not notice someone was following him.

"Jack" a female voice called to him. The Prime ignored it and continued to walk down the corridor until he felt a hand on his shoulder. His eyes widened and a rage came over him as he spun around and grabbed the person by the throat and pinned them to the wall. He was so full of rage that could not see who it was.

"Ja..ck, its….me, Airachnid."

Jack just stared at the femme, not even acknowledging her, which earned him a punch to the face as he was forced back against the wall by the impact and fell on his ass. He shook his head as the punch had snapped him out of his thoughts and he looked up to see Airachnid standing over him, her face was looking back sternly.

"Jack, if I hadn't heard what had happened down there, I would tear you in two for that." she answered, trying to keep her rising anger in check. Jack just looked up at her suddenly feeling very guilty and embarrassed.

"I'm sorry..." he then looked back down at the floor, feeling defeated.

"...I just…I"

Airachnid's expression changed as she looked at the fallen Prime, his world had just been shattered mere hours earlier by the woman he loved. And yet she felt that there was more to his pain than that, and that she knew what he was feeling. Jack looked up to see her hold out a hand to him, her expression was gentle and sympathetic. He took her hand and she helped him back to his feet, before looking around to see if anyone had witnessed their exchange. Satisfied that no one was around she motioned Jack into the nearest room.

"Come on, lets talk in here." she said.

They entered the room and sat on the chairs there facing each other. Jack just looked at the femme, still not used to this new Airachnid, unsure whether she had told him the truth earlier.

"I am sorry for what happened between you and Arcee, I understand what your feeling right now."

Jack 's expression changed from confusion to unbelieving.

"No offence Airachnid, but I find it hard to believe that you of all people could understand."

The femme looked at Jack, trying to hide the hurt she felt from his comment and failing, so she looked away at the wall.

"Jack, like I said earlier I'm.." Jack cut her off before she could finish.

"Your not the same Airachnid I know, are you going to explain that one to me anytime soon." he answered trying to change the subject. She just looked back at him, before sighing in defeat.

"Alright, like I said I am not the same Airachnid you remember. It all kind of changed when my spark was transferred to this pretender body." she replied a she gestured to her form.

"How did you get a pretender body, in fact how did you even escape the silo all those years ago."

Airachnid looked away as she remembered that day.

"It was in the final days of the war, when Megatron found out the location of your base and launched an all out attack. He sent in Dreadwing and a battalion of Vehicons as the Nemesis fired on the mountain. You were all so busy either evacuating the base or fighting, that you hadn't noticed when the mountain started to cave in, one of the boulders damaged the stasis pod I was in. I managed to get out and found myself trapped in the room by the cave in..." she said as she remembered those events.

"...But I easily drilled my way out and back up to the surface. Once there, I realised that I did not have enough energon to last in a fight, especially against the Autobots and Decepticons. So I fled, but not before seeing Prime use the Star saber to bring down the Nemesis."

Jack remembered that day too, the bots had no idea how Megatron managed to find their base, but thankfully their ranks had been increased with Smokescreen, who had matured a lot under Prime's and Arcee's guidance. Then there were the Dinobots, Jack had thought that the Wreckers were the experts at destruction.

Well no one had told that to Grimlock and his team, and when you see a bunch of robotic dinosaurs charging through an entire army of vehicons, you then had a new appreciation for their style of fighting. Luckily before the battle Optimus had managed to repair the Star saber with the Matrix of leadership and the Forge of Solus Prime that Smokescreen and Arcee managed to steal back from the Nemesis. Seeing the Prime wield the saber and bring down Megatron's flagship was a sight that he would never forget.

"So how did you get the pretender body, I'm guessing you stole it since neither side liked you very much." Jack asked, trying to make the last part not sound so nasty.

"Yes I did, I saw where things were heading with the energon problem before anyone else and so broke into one of the Decepticon auxiliary bases that Megatron had scattered around the planet. I found an unused pretender and transferred my own spark into it."

Jack looked at her in shock.

"You did it all by yourself, I'm no expert, but I was under the impression that it was something that needed the assistance of others, since it is a very delicate and dangerous procedure. Considering that it has you removing your own spark." he replied as he remembered the day he watched Arcee go through the procedure.

Airachnid found a slight smile appear on her face at Jack's sudden concern for her.

"Yes I did and it wasn't a painless procedure by any means, I am guessing that's how I ended up being myself again and not how you would remember me." she replied sheepishly.

She then stood up and looked out of the window, which was quite large. They must have been in the port observation room, the view was quite stunning. Had to give MECH credit when it came to ship building. Jack stood up and joined her by the window.

"So now I am up to speed on how you gained that body, what do you mean by not being the Airachnid I remember?" he asked gently. The femme crossed her arms, looking a little uncomfortable with the situation.

"Well what I….ARRRRRRGGGGHHHH!" Airachnid screamed as she held her head in her hands and fell to her knees in pain. Jack stood and watched in shock before taking action and grabbing hold of the femme.

"Airachnid, what is wrong?" he pleaded as she fell unconscious in his arms. He frantically tapped at his com link.

"Prime to Chakwas, medical emergency in port observation room."

In the Medical Bay, Airachnid was lying unconscious on the bed as Chakwas was running scans on her with her holo-tool while Jack was standing at the side, looking down at the helpless femme with concern. He was confused though with why he was showing concern for her in the first place, after all this was the femme that tried to kill him twice and his friends on several occasions. But she was acting like a completely different person since he met her again and that did throw him for a loop.

"How is she Doctor?"

Chakwas completed her scans and turned to the Prime.

"Well, it seems that she had a reaction to her internal subspace receiver having a powerful signal transmitted to it. The signal was meant for a cybertronian's original body. The pretender bodies can not process that kind of power, so it shut her down into stasis."

Jack looked down at Airachnid's peaceful looking form and found it hard to believe that the femme would be capable of such a look.

"So is she alright?"

The Doctor used her holo-tool and brought the former Decepticon out of stasis, before walking back to her station.

"Ask her yourself, she should be coming around any moment now."

Airachnid opened her eyes, the purple vibrancy of them glowed for a moment as they looked around the room before stopping on the Prime looking down to her.

"You okay?" he asked in a gentle, concerned tone. She looked back a little confused before sitting up and facing him.

"I think so, I haven't had that happen to me for a long time."

Airachnid moved a little to the side to let Jack sit next to her and to her surprise he did.

"When was the last time it happened?"

The femme looked ahead as Jack watched her intently.

"The last time was millennia ago by your time frame. My first days as a Decepticon during the early days of the war." she replied stoically.

"What happened?" Jack asked. Airachnid got off the table and turned to him, her face remaining stoic.

"I can't tell you now, but if you come with me then I will tell you everything." she answered honestly.

"What ,why?" the Prime asked back, suddenly confused, and not for the first time with this femme.

"Because I know where the signal originated from…Cybertron."

Jack's eyes widened.

"Cybertron, are you sure?"

Airachnid nodded in return.

"Will you come with me Jack, I will need your help?" she looked to him.

"Why me, what do you expect to find there?" he asked still confused by this whole situation.

The femme looked out the medical bay's window to the crew walking past, she then looked back to the Prime.

"Jack, I don't know what I will find there, but I don't want to do it alone."

Jack looked into the femmes eyes, she was looking at him almost pleading. The Prime nodded to her, her posture and face looking relieved.

"I'll get Hotrod to set course for Cybertron immediately and I'll have one of the others join us."

The femme looked at him in shock.

"No, we have to go in a shuttle. Just you and me." she replied. Jack thought about arguing his point but then consigned himself to defeat and nodded back to her.

"Okay, I'll leave Miranda in charge and we will take the shuttle. Meet me down there in thirty minutes." he replied in a calm manner as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. Airachnid nodded as she felt somewhat better and walked out of the medical bay, Jack then turned around to see Chakwas smiling at him.

"What?" he asked back, unsure to why the doctor was smiling. She merely shrugged.

"Oh, nothing really. It's just that I have been observing her while she has been on board. The young lady seems to have a lot of issues preying on her mind, and I believe that having you help her will do a lot to ease whatever burdens she has been carrying."

Jack dwelled on her words before nodding back to her.

"I hope so too Doctor, because I need everyone at hundred percent, considering we still have the Quintessons to deal with." he replied before leaving the room.

**PRIME EFFECT 2**

The Defiant floated in the blackness of space as its shuttle bay door opened, allowing shuttle one to fly out and away from the ship before the space bridge next to them activated and it flew into it's giant green vortex. Only seconds past before the shuttle exited the connected space bridge to be greeted by the sight of the devastated planet of Cybertron. Airachnid looked at her dead home world and Jack looked over to see sadness and guilt in her face.

"It has been a very long time since I laid eyes on Cybertron." she said, gaining Jack's full attention as he piloted the shuttle.

"Was this you before the other you took over?" he asked, hoping he phrased the question right despite what little information she had given him. She nodded before continuing, letting the memories flood her mind as she thought back.

"It was during the early days of the war, I was with my spark mate Esmeral. We were among the first cybertronians to join the Autobots after Megatron started the war by attacking Crystal City. Esmeral always said that Megatron would be trouble." she remembered fondly. Jack raised an eyebrow to that last comment.

"She?, Esmeral was a femme?" he asked surprised. Airachnid replied by giving him a stern look.

"And, what's wrong with that?" she answered, annoyed with the human Prime's ignorance.

"Nothing, nothing at all, just did didn't expect that." he replied suddenly finding himself embarrassed. A smirk grew on the femme's face. She found the sight of Jack squirming under her gaze quite humorous. When she was satisfied that he wouldn't interrupt anymore she carried on. She thought back to that day in Crystal City all those eons ago.

_'As she moved among the large crystalline structures, now visually tarnished by the damage caused during the last attack. Airachnid took cover behind a large pile of rubble, she looked back to see her partner, her spark mate following the same path she had taken. The femme had a white and red colour scheme and bright green optics._

" _Esmeral over here now." Airachnid said, trying to keep the volume down as she heard a large rumbling in the distance. The femme got in close to her partner as the rumbling got even closer._

" _Well Air, seems like this patrol isn't going to be as uneventful as you thought." Esmeral said with a smirk. It was a smirk that always warmed Airachnid's spark._

" _Ok, you were right, but I don't fancy the odds that are approaching us." she replied hesitantly as she peeked over the rubble to see a large Decepticon force entering the area. She then got back down and looked at her partner._

" _I think we should double back and get back to base and report to Hauler that more Con forces have entered the city's northern side." she said before Esmeral stroked the femme's face with her servo._

" _And then we may be able to get some downtime together Air." she replied in a gentle and loving tone. Airachnid smiled back, enjoying the touch and feeling it brought to her spark._

" _Well first things first."_

_Esmeral nodded and the two started to slowly head back the way they had come, making sure not to make any noise as the enemy force was nearly on top of them. Airachnid then noticed the first enemy soldiers appearing over the rubble pile that they were just at and before any of them could spot the two femmes, she grabbed Esmeral by the hand and pulled her into an alleyway. They both hid behind a damaged cargo container, Airachnid holding Esmeral close to her. They stayed there very quiet for what appeared to be the longest time as the Decepticon force marched past them._

_The force was made up of Vehicons mainly, basic soldier models. These were cybertronians who had their sparks transferred into these protoforms. The cons say that they volunteered but there is a belief among the Autobots that Megatron has cybertronians rounded up and reprogrammed. The very thought sickened Airachnid as she watched the last of the Decepticons leave their sight, waiting just long enough to hear their marching faintly in the distance. The two femmes then stood up and headed further down the alleyway ,hoping that they wouldn't come across any more trouble._

" _Come on, we can cut through here and then go three streets down to reach the EZ." Airachnid said as the two came out into another street to be greeted by a group of Cybertronians. From the look of them, they were seekers. The one on the right had a black and purple colour scheme, while the one on the left was blue. But the one in the centre was silver with red trimmings._

" _Now what do we have here my friends, but two little Autobots who have lost their way." he answered slyly, an sinister grin on his face._

_Both femmes trained their weapons on the seekers, who in turn raised their own._

" _I think they want to fight us Commander." the blue con said as Starscream continued to grin._

" _I can see that Thundercracker, but befo…." he was cut off by Airachnid and Esmeral firing at them as the seekers suddenly transformed into jet modes and evaded the femmes fire._

" _Thundercracker, Skywarp, keep them occupied." Starscream ordered as he flew away. Both Seekers veered around and fired down on the bots as they ran for cover._

" _Watch out for the one that is up itself, I think he will be back." Airachnid said as her partner went back to back with her, continuing to fire on the other two._

" _That's Starscream, I heard that is his favourite manoeuvre."_

_Then Airachnid spotted the silver cybertronian jet flying just outside of their firing range, moving in and out of the crystal buildings._

" _I've got him, okay we'll ignore him until he is right on us." she said confidently._

_Esmeral smiled back at her._

" _He wont know what hit him." she replied as both femmes turned their attention on the others._

_Starscream flew round and spotted the bots and noticed them battling his team mates._

' _Ha, I knew they would fall for it.' he thought as he veered back round and started his attack run on the pair._

_Airachnid could feel that the seeker was nearing and just as he powered up his weapons, ready to take the shot._

" _Now!" she cried out as both femmes turned and fired at Starscream, making several direct hits. He could no longer keep control as he spiralled down and crash landed just feet from them. Thundercracker and Skywarp saw this and flew down and transformed next to him._

" _Starscream, you okay." Skywarp asked as Thundercracker kept firing at the bots._

" _Just get me out of here you fools." the commander screeched as his team mate helped him up._

_Esmeral then rolled to the left and fired a perfect shot, damaging Thundercracker's weapon._

" _Going somewhere boys?" she asked coyly as she and Airachnid had them dead to rights._

_The three seekers raised their hands, surrendering to the Autobot femmes._

" _I think we should call this in Esmeral." Airachnid said smirking at their new prisoners._

_Esmeral smiled back before activating her com link, while keeping her weapon trained on the seekers._

" _Commander Hauler, this is patrol 30.…Arrrgggh" she cried out as she was shot in the back._

_"Esmeral!" Airachnid called back in shock before being hit in the back too, her body falling to the ground and the last thing her optics saw before going into stasis was Esmeral's unconscious form lying next to her. Starscream and the others looked up to where the shots had come from and saw a purple and light blue seeker staring down at them, smirking devilishly._

" _Well I guess it just goes to show that you three do need a femme's touch every now and again."_

_Starscream suddenly feeling confident pushed his team mates aside and stepped forward to greet her._

" _Slipstream, that worked out just like I had planned. Well done, your service to me will not be forgotten." he said as the Skywarp and Thundercracker looked at each other confused. Slipstream jumped down from her perch and rolled her optics at the commander._

" _What ever you say Scream. Now what do you want done with these stinking bots?" she said as the four of them surrounded the downed femmes. The commander looked down at them and smiled._

" _I think we have should deliver these two to Lord Megatron as a gift." he said slyly._

" _What to make up for your failed attack on the Autobot base earlier." she replied dryly. Starscream turned at her angrily._

" _That wasn't my fault, blame remains solely with the Combaticons." he then waved her off as he started marching away._

_"Pick them up and follow me to the dropship."_

_They merely shrugged before picking up the unconscious prisoners and following their leader._

_When Airachnid came too, she found that her hands were bound and she was on her knees. She looked around at her surroundings. The room was darkly lit, with dark purple neon lighting around the room. She also saw a number of vehicons standing to attention. She then instantly looked to her right to find Esmeral in similar bindings._

" _Hey Air, when I said I wanted some downtime with you, this wasn't what I had in mind." she coyly said, before she was kicked in the back._

" _Silence Autobot scum." Starscream ordered from behind them._

_"Do you not know who you are kneeling before."_

_Both femmes then looked up to see Megatron, Lord of the Decepticons standing before them. His blood red optics glaring down at them before looking back at Starscream._

" _What is the meaning of this Starscream." he spat, making the commander squirm under his gaze. "Do you bring me Autobot prisoners just to make up for your defeat at Crystal City."_

_The Con looked back at him shocked and appalled._

" _My Lord, you know I am only here to serve you, but it was the comb.." he was cut off by the Decepticon Lord._

" _Spare me your prattle, Onslaught has already returned from the mission and brought me Hauler's head as a trophy."_

_Airachnid and Esmeral felt their sparks sink at the revelation. Starscream fearing for his safety suddenly, tried to get Megatron's attention elsewhere._

" _Lord Megatron, I thought you may want to torture these two Autobots for whatever secrets they hold."_

_The Con leader just looked away disinterested._

" _I have enough on my plate right now with Zeta Prime's continued resistance, to be bothered with such a lowly task." he then looked away for a moment before a dark smile crossed his face._

_"I think they would be much better suited in Shockwave's care, don't you." he said glaring down at the seeker, making Starscream visibly shake._

" _Of course my Lord." he replied hesitantly. Soundwave then walked up and joined Megatron where he stood, the lord acknowledging him._

" _Well take them to Shockwave then, now get out of my sight."_

_Starscream bowed awkwardly before gesturing to two vehicons who lifted the prisoners to their feet and escorted them out of the chamber.'_

Airachnid was brought out of her memories by Jack who placed a hand on her shoulder in support when he noticed that she had gone quiet all of a sudden.

"Hey, you okay?" he asked gently, she then nodded and looked out of the window to see that they were now flying between the damaged and derelict buildings that littered Cybertron's surface.

"Yeah, just bad memories." she replied softly as she closed her optics briefly. Jack wanted to say something but felt it might be better to keep quiet about what she had told him, for now anyway. He looked back ahead as the scanner on his controls beeped.

"Looks like we are closing on the source of the signal." he said as Airachnid's expression turned stoic and she checked her weapons.

"Good, because I want to know who would call me back here."

After leaving the shuttle with their breathers on, the two stood before a dark tower that Airachnid recognised instantly.

"That's Shockwave's research facility."

Jack looked over to her in surprise.

"Shockwave, do you think it was him that signalled you?"

The femme shook her head in disagreement.

"No, he died during the battle on Earth. It couldn't be him." she answered, a little unsurely. Jack then equipped his mattock rifle and gestured to the former con.

"Well I guess we will find out soon enough, lets move."

Airachnid nodded and the two entered the facility.

**PRIME EFFECT 2**

They had been searching through the facility's titan sized rooms for what felt like forever and yet had found nothing, but damaged eons old equipment. But then they entered one room that was larger than the others and Airachnid's eyes widened a little, gaining Jack's attention as he saw that she knew this particular room.

"Airachnid what is it?" he asked as she just stood and looked around.

"This was the room where….." she stopped talking when she saw a cybertronian body lying on the floor. It looked like it had been there forever, but then Jack heard the femme whimper as tears ran down her face as she ran over to the body before falling to her knees and crying over it. Jack walked over quietly and placed his hand on her shoulder sympathetically. He felt her shiver under his hand as she cried, but then he was suddenly surprised when he felt her hand on top of his. He then bent down to her level.

"Is this…" he asked before she cut him off.

"Yes…. this is Esmeral." she nodded in return as tears continued to flow from her eyes. Jack looked at the bot's body. If he was to make a guess It looked like it was torn apart by an Insecticon, he then looked back to the femme.

"I'm very sorry Airachnid." Jack said in sympathetic tone as she continued to hold his hand on her shoulder.

"Thank you Jack." she replied gently as she looked up into his eyes, her own still welled up with tears yet to be shed. Jack knew he would be walking a minefield by asking this next question, but he knew that it was the only way to help her through this.

"What happened here Airachnid?" he asked, gaining a look from her that he could not read.

"If you don't want to, I'll understand." he said while she continued to stare, before she suddenly sighed and looked back at her spark mate's body.

"No, I want… I have to tell you Jack, to lay it out in front of me." she replied as she wiped her face clean of the tear stains. She then let her memories over flow her again.

_'Airachnid and Esmeral were escorted into the large room, which held many berths in an almost vertical position. There was also numerous tables that had many monstrous looking blades and devices on them. The vehicons then tied the femmes to their own individual berths as a large Decepticon entered the room. His colour scheme was dark purple and his left arm was a massive cannon. But the thing that caught the bot's real attention was the one solitary optic he had, which glowed a blood red as he looked at them._

" _I see Lord Megatron has given me more test subjects." he then pointed over to the corpses lying in a pile in the corner of the room._

_"You see the others didn't survive but I have high hopes that you will, considering that I have learned from the mistakes I made earlier." he added before o_ _ne of the vehicons decided to speak up._

" _Sir, it was Commander Starscream who delivered these two to you." he said in a confident manner. Shockwave just looked back at him._

" _So it was Megatron then, leave us alone ST3V3. I would like to be alone with my guests."_

_The two soldiers left the room as the scientist walked over to one of the tables and picked up a device. He then walked over to Airachnid and looked her up and down._

" _Well you are an interesting one aren't you, I know exactly what upgrades I will make for you. After I re-educate you of course." he said as he moved the device closer to her face._

" _Leave her alone you one eyed freak." Esmeral spat at him as she struggled against her bindings. He looked over at her, his emotions unreadable due to the one optic that made up his face._

" _Stay silent, you'll have your turn soon enough."_

_Airachnid tried to move but found that her bindings were just too strong as she caught view of a screen behind Shockwave, showing a strange creature with two little arms, a long tail and a large head with strong sharp teeth. Shockwave noticed her attention was elsewhere and looked to see what she was looking at._

" _Ah I see you have found my little hobby. I have found the most interesting planet recently with one of my probes. It has the most diverse number of creatures on it. I thought that perhaps if I could harness their power and give it to our troops. It would give Lord Megatron an even greater advantage over the Autobots, but sadly I have yet to find a suitable test subject for that particular creature design."_

_He then shifted through the images of various alien creatures until he came across one that made Airachnid look away in revulsion._

" _Ah, I see you like this one. I have to say it is very striking and I believe it would fit you perfectly. Why don't we begin." he said sinisterly as the last thing Airachnid saw was the image on the screen of an eight legged creature before everything went black as he placed her in stasis._

_Over the next few cycles, Airachnid felt agonising pain as Shockwave experimented on and ripped apart her body, only to add new body parts and upgrades to it. She couldn't see anything due to him deactivating her optics, but she could hear Esmeral's pleas and cries of defiance._

" _I swear to the all-spark, I will kill you if you…" she was cut off by a large smack to the face._

" _I said silence, cant you see I am working here. You would be in on the fun too, if you were compatible with any of my designs that is." he said before continuing his work on Airachnid's body, the pain recurring as she felt his tools violating her inner workings._

_After another cycle, he stopped and chuckled to himself as Esmeral gasped._

" _I have to say I really do a satisfactory job. Now only one last thing to do."_

_Airachnid then felt something sharp pierce the back of her head as suddenly all her thoughts were dulled and pushed away. She found that she could no longer move her own body, it was as if she was being locked out of her own systems. All she could do was listen as she heard Esmeral's whimpers as she watched helplessly._

_Suddenly Airachnid's optics came on-line and she looked around the room before coming to a stop in front of Shockwave._

" _Do you know who I am?" he asked stoically._

" _Yes you are Shockwave, lead scientist to Lord Megatron." she answered._

" _And who is he to you?" he said, his optic staring at her._

" _He is my master, I live to serve the Decepticon cause." she answered unwavering. Shockwave nodded in acknowledgement._

" _Good, it seems the reprogramming has worked, but we should test it on…."_

_He looked back at Esmeral and if he could smile he would have, as he unlocked the restraints on Airachnid's berth allowing her to step down from it. He then pointed over to the Autobot._

" _Airachnid, I want you to kill, no... rip apart that Autobot scum."_

_An evil smile grew on the femme's face as she looked at Esmeral._

" _It would be my pleasure." she answered as she walked over to the femme who just looked at her spark-mate in utter confusion._

" _Airachnid it is me Esmeral, don't you remember?" she pleaded, gaining a momentary pause from her lover. Shockwave noticed this and readied his weapon just in case. Esmeral looked at her spark mate, at the confused look on her face before it changed back to the evil grin she bore before. The new Decepticon shrugged._

" _I'm sorry, but I don't know you Autobot slag." she answered as she grabbed the bot by the throat, released her restraints and threw Esmeral to the floor in the middle of the room. The bot tried to get up only for her hand to be pinned down by a strange, horrible looking appendage that had appeared from behind Airachnid's back. She then looked up in horror, her optics widened fully as 3 more appendages grew out of her back and readied themselves to strike._

" _Airachnid, you have to remember who you are. Please, I love you!" Esmeral pleaded as she looked the femme in the optics. But the con just shook her head._

" _I am flattered really, but you are not my type." she answered coldly before launching the other appendages at the bots chest, clawing it open and spilling energon everywhere. As Araichnid sliced and clawed her way through the bots inner workings, Esmeral had a look of utter defeat on her face as she reached up with her right hand, trying to reach her lost lover's face before her optics went dark and her hand fell to the ground._

_Airachnid stood before the shredded corpse of the bot and smiled. Shockwave stood beside her._

" _Very impressive Airachnid, Lord Megatron will be most pleased." he answered as the spider-bot stood looking down at the mess she had made. But inside her mind a voice screamed out, a voice that no longer had control of her own body. The voice was filled with guilt, sadness and anger._

" _ESMERAL!" she screamed into the darkness that surrounded her.'_

Jack looked at Airachnid, his eyes completely wide and his mouth hung open in shock of what she had just told him, a single tear slid down his cheek. Everything he knew about her was completely wrong.

"I' am so sorry Arachnid, I had no idea, god all the things that you've…" he found himself completely lost in thought at all the evil deeds that she had done, but now knowing that it wasn't really her. "You remember everything."

Airachnid slowly nodded.

"Yes, I remember ever spark I destroyed, every life that I hunted down and killed, simply for the pleasure of killing."

She then looked directly at Jack.

"I also remember torturing Arcee and killing Tailgate. I spent everyday screaming at the sights I saw, hoping that if I tried hard enough that I might finally be able to break free and gain control of myself." she replied as the tears starting flowing freely again.

"But it never happened." she said as she looked at Esmeral's face, frozen in the same defeated expression that had been seared into her mind.

"Then I remember coming across you. And I cheered when you defeated me with Arcee. The first one who managed to defend themselves and not become one of my victims. And then you did it again when I tried to kill you and your mother. But apart from those two moments, everything else was a nightmare that would never stop."

She then looked down to the ground and took a deep breath before carrying on.

"The only solace I found was when Arcee managed to trap me in a stasis chamber. I was still burdened with the memories of everything that I saw myself destroy, but I was comforted by the fact that I wouldn't hurt anyone else."

Jack took one of Airachnid's hands in his own. She looked up to see him looking back at her, forgiveness in his eyes.

"None of this is your fault, you are a victim of the Decepticons, just as much as Arcee was. You carried this guilt on your shoulders for too long. Let me help you, because…" Jack trailed off as he looked away and thought about his own demons. Arachnid noticed this and placed a finger on his chin and brought his eyes back to her.

"Jack, thank you. I never thought that anyone would ever be able to forgive me for what I have done. But you can't help me, because unlike me your guilt is misplaced."

Jack just watched her as she started to gain control over her emotions.

"I read about what happened on Virmire. It wasn't your fault what happened to your friends and you shouldn't feel guilty for being brought back to life either."

Jack pondered on her words, but then decided to counter argue her point.

"The same goes for you." he replied gaining a look of confusion from the femme.

"When you transferred your spark into your pretender body, you regained control of your life. Don't you think Esmeral would want you to make the most of it. Because I seriously doubt that she holds any grievance against you, because she loved you all the way till the very end." he replied as he held both of her hands in his gently. She looked down at them before nodding.

"Your saying that I can find redemption?" she asked hesitantly. Jack looked at her, his face remaining calm.

"I know after everything you have told me that you don't need to think like that, but if it helps then yes. You have already started by helping me. Focus on that, on helping people. And maybe one day you will be able to forgive yourself."

Airachnid started to calm down as she looked down on Esmeral's still form.

"I love you Esmeral." she said quietly.

"Well isn't this a touching scene!" a voice spoke aloud, making both Jack and Arachnid turn their heads in the direction it had come from. They both looked towards a doorway, nothing but darkness inside apart from one solitary red light. They both readied their weapons as the light moved closer towards them until a figure that towered over them stepped out from the shadows.

"It can't be" Airachnid muttered as Jack looked over to her.

"Airachnid…" he said before Shockwave cut him off as he stood before them.

"So you have returned. When I sent that signal, I was hoping that some of my children would be drawn home, but I never expected you. Aside from the Constructicons,Combaticons and other experiments that I do not wish to divulge at this time, you are my most successful experiment. An Autobot turned Decepticon assassin."

He then looked down at the former con.

"Though I see that you like the rest of our people have taken to the sub-par pretender bodies. They were never meant for extended use and not worthy of our greatness." he said before extending an arm to her.

"Come to me and I will give you a new body. One worthy of a Decepticon such as yourself."

Airachnid kept her weapon trained on him as she took a step back and shook her head, as Shockwave started to walk towards her.

"No I will not, and I am an Autobot." she replied defiantly as Jack stood beside her.

"You heard the femme Shockwave, your reprogramming no longer has a hold over her." Jack answered, gaining the Con's attention.

"And who in the Allspark are you?" he spat back, before focusing his vision on the Autobot crest on the Human's chest plate.

"Do you think I care what a Human thinks, Prime..." he spat as he raised his cannon at the pair.

"...She will join me in my mission."

The two looked at him confused.

"What mission would that be, because if you hadn't noticed the war has been over for nearly two decades." Jack replied sarcastically. Shockwave just looked down at them both, again his expression unreadable.

"My mission was given to me by Lord Megatron himself. He recognised the futile nature of our race's survival due to the diminishing energon supply. So after Knockout successfully figured out what the substance that enhanced your medic's abilities was." he said as Jack's eyes widened.

"Synthetic energon!" he said, making Shockwave nod in agreement.

"Wait a minute, that event was a good couple of years before the war ended, why did it take so long for Knockout to realise what it was?" Jack asked curiously.

"It pains me to say it but Knockout is not much of a scientist, not compared to myself or your Autobot medic." Shockwave replied.

"Anyway, I was ordered to return here and research the synthergon. But it took too long to figure out the complete formula."

Arachnid then nudged Jack's shoulder, gaining his attention while Shockwave continued to speak.

"You see his optic, notice the green hue that is mixed in with its blood red."

Jack looked up and noticed it too. The green was in the outer edges of his eye and glowing strongly.

"Your using the synthergon as it is. Don't you realise how dangerous that is?" Jack said surprised by the Scientist's lack of caution. Shockwave raised his fist and clenched it.

"What danger, I have never felt as strong as I do now. And this is a strength I want to share with all Cybertronians. With this power I can bring about the future that Megatron himself dreamed of seeing. The galaxy in the grip of the Decepticons, reborn!"

Jack's face became stoic as he aimed for Con's optic.

"I'll send you to the pit first Shockwave." The Prime warned as Airachnid copied his stance, waiting for Shockwave to make his move.

"Very well Prime, lets see what you have got." he answered back as he fired his cannon, causing the two to dive out of the way in opposite directions. Jack rolled into the dive, finishing in a kneeling position as he then fired a burst of bullets right at the Con's optic, but they bounced right off harmlessly.

"Nice attempt Prime, but that trick will not work twice. Not since the Autobot slag, Arcee did it before."

Jack gritted his teeth at that comment as Shockwave turned his attention to Airachnid who was firing at him from behind cover. He fired his cannon at her spot, the impact sending her sprawling onto the ground several feet away. He then caught sight of Jack charging at him with his energy blade and fired at the ground just in front of the Prime, the blast it caused sending him into the wall and left him lying on the ground.

"Is this the best you have got, because I am not impressed." Shockwave said as he turned back to the femme who was still recovering from his last attack. He aimed his weapon at her as Jack lifted his head to see her trying to get up.

"It is such a shame you became this pitiful excuse of a femme Airachnid, you were capable of being so much more."

He then charged his weapon as Jack pulled himself to his feet, everything felt like it was in slow motion as he ran over to her. Just as Shockwave fired a bolt of energy at the femme, she in return closed her eyes and waited for her imminent death.

"No!" Jack shouted as he stood in between her and the incoming energy. The blast hit Jack and the room filled with a blinding light, then there was silence. Shockwave looked down at the ground where Jack stood and saw nothing but smoke and dust that the blast had caused. But when it settled, the Con's optic brightened in shock at what he saw.

"Impossible!" he exclaimed as Airachnid opened her eyes, they widened at the sight in front of her. She saw Jack standing in front of her with his right arm held out with a circular energy shield emanating from his fore arm. Arachnid gasped as she recognised it.

"The skyboom shield."

Shockwave then noticed the Prime's left hand, where his energy blade was, but it had now changed too. The blade was much longer and looked exactly like the star blade Optimus Prime wields. Jack and Arachnid both looked at it as a smirk grew on the Prime's face. The blade started to glow as he lifted it above his head. Shockwave charged his cannon again as the Prime ran towards the titan, then swung the blade around and around before letting loose an energy wave that knocked the Con off his feet and into the synthergon tanks behind him.

The liquid from the damaged tanks covered Shockwave as he began to pick himself up from busted tanks, his optic then narrowed at the sight of Arachnid aiming her gun at the exposed synthergon. She smiled as she fired one shot which caused the liquid to explode, engulfing Shockwave in a fireball which expanded out at Arachnid and Jack. The Prime grabbed her and pulled her close, causing her to gasp in surprise as he brought up skyboom shield in front of them.

The blast hitting it and passing round them harmlessly, they could both feel the heat of the fireball around them as it burned for several seconds before dissipating. When it ended, Jack collapsed to his knees, his breathing became heavy as Airachnid knelt beside him.

"Jack, are you alright?" she asked, not even attempting to hide the concern in her voice. Jack looked at her while panting heavily.

"It takes a lot out of you when using the saber like that." he panted as she smiled back at him. She then did something that Jack did not expect, she leaned in close and pressed her lips to his gently for a second before parting. Jack looked back at her surprised.

"Thank you Jack?" she said gently before getting to her feet and walking over to the giant burnt out corpse that was once Shockwave. His head had fallen away from his body and the blood red optic was flickering before she aimed her gun at it and fired a burst of bullets into it, deactivating it for good.

"That was for Esmeral, you piece of scrap." she answered as she felt a hand on her shoulder and turned to see that Jack had recovered.

"You going to be alright Arachnid?" he asked. She answered him by putting her arms around his torso and hugging him.

"I'd like to leave now." she said softly into his ear.

He looked at her sympathetically.

"You sure, I would understand if you wanted to stay a little longer." he said in an understanding and gentle tone. The femme shook her head slightly as a single tear running down her cheek.

"No, I have said my goodbyes Jack. There is nothing here for me now." she said sadly, as she let go of Jack and looked at him, a sad smile on her face.

"But thank you for understanding." she replied as the two of them turned and headed for the exit. She then stopped and took one more look at the corpse of her spark mate, before walking out of the room, Jack at her side.


	6. Chapter 6

 

Jack walked into his quarters and just sat down on the bed in his armour, he had only just returned from Cybertron with Airachnid. She had told him that she wanted to be alone and think about had happened there and so returned to her area at the bottom of the ship. Jack though was still feeling the effects from using the star saber on Shockwave earlier, though he was feeling much more stronger than he did then. He wondered if that was going to happen every time he used the weapon or if he would get used to it in time. As he sat there he couldn't help but let his thoughts dwell on the kiss that Airachnid had given him.

It had been a long time….for him anyway, since he last felt comfort that personal with another someone. It had been Arcee originally, but the femme though had pushed him away and yet he still loved her. But now there was Airachnid and after everything that he had learnt about her down on Cybertron, he had found that she was no different to Arcee. He shook his head as he tried to rid himself of such thoughts, he still had a job to do and so would concentrate on it and not on the loneliness he was feeling. His com link activated, gaining his full attention.

"Prime we have an incoming signal from the Citadel." the Autobot pilot informed him. Jack took a deep breath before he stood up and walked over to his desk.

"I'll take it in here Hotrod."

Jack then sat down and used the console so that the wall facing him activated showing the face of Optimus Prime staring back, surprise in his eyes.

"Jackson….. it is very good to see you again, after what happened to the Normandy. We all mourned your passing, so to see you here now fills my spark with joy." the elder Prime said happily, which made Jack relax a little.

"It's good to be back Optimus..." Jack replied, he hadn't felt like that comment was really true until recently, thanks to his talk with Airachnid on Cybertron. He had started to feel a little better about himself.

"...I just wish that it was under better circumstances."

Optimus nodded as his face became more serious.

"Yes, it is most disturbing to hear that MECH brought you back and that you are working for them." The Prime replied.

"I'm not working for them Optimus, I am working with them. Who told you that?"

Optimus's eyes closed for a moment.

"Arcee told us in her debriefing." he answered sadly.

Jack looked down at the desk as he thought back to the last time they saw each other. He could not help but feel bad for the way it had played out, but she should have trusted him. She had told him that she did before, so what had changed.

"How is she?" he asked as he looked back at the Autobot leader. Optimus could see the sincerity and pain in Jack's eyes as he spoke about her.

"She…..isn't taking it well Jackson. She doesn't believe that it is really you."

Jack's heart took another hit as he felt like sinking into his chair but kept himself from doing so while he had Optimus looking back at him.

"I'm sorry to hear that, I tried to explain to her…" Jack said before the elder Prime cut him off.

"We can talk more after but in the mean time, the Council would like to speak to you."

Jack then saw Optimus stand aside as the four Councillors stood before him.

"Jackson Prime I would like to say that it is good to see you again.." Perceptor said before he was cut off by Sparatus.

"But we have heard some rather unsettling news on how you were brought back and who you are working for." he cut in, his voice tinged with anger. Tevlos then stood forward in a stoic manner.

"We have called this meeting so that you can explain your actions, we do owe you that much. You did save the Citadel and our lives from Saren and the Geth army he had under his control." she answered calmly.

"Councillors, I was brought back by MECH because they needed my help in discovering who has been abducting Human colonies in the Terminus systems over the last two years." he then took a breath before continuing.

"We have found out that it is the Quintessons and that they are also working with the Reapers." Jack answered in calm manner, though he had an idea on how this conversation may turn out. If the way Sparatus was looking at him was any indication.

"The Terminus systems are outside our jurisdiction, your colonists knew this when they left Alliance and Council space." he replied while glaring at Jack.

Optimus decided to speak up for the young Prime and stepped forward.

"But you are missing the point Councillor, the Reapers are involved in what has been happening in the Terminus systems in recent years." He spoke stoically.

Sparatus just shook his head before glaring between the elder Prime and the one on their screen.

"Ah yes, 'Reapers'. The nightmare biomechanical monsters that hide in dark space waiting for the right time to destroy us all." He then waved his arm in disgust. "We have already dismissed that claim."

Optimus turned to Jack's image on the monitor.

"Jackson, unfortunately no one has been able to speak to the hologram on Ilos. And you and your team were the only ones ever to speak to Sovereign." Optimus then gave Jack a slight smile.

"I believe you, but as there is no direct evidence to support you, the others will always believe that Saren was behind the attack."

Jack looked back at the council, his face as stoic as the elder Prime.

"Why would the Geth follow Saren, he was not a synthetic. They only listened to him because he was Sovereign's puppet." he answered back. But Tevlos shook her head in response.

"Saren was a highly charismatic and compelling man. He convinced the Geth that the Reapers were real as well as making you believe in them too." she replied.

"It was part of his plan to attack the Citadel. The Reapers are just a fairy tale, but one that you keep on reciprocating." Sparatus carried on.

"We believe that you think they are real. But we do not and that is the end of it."

Jack took a breath as he sighed.

"Just speak to Arblus on Ilos or better yet examine the remains of Sovereign, it is obviously not Geth technology since it is much more advanced."

The Councillors though just looked at Jack, their annoyance with the Prime growing.

"The Geth are capable of remarkable advances in technology, which is why Saren obviously recruited them. As for the VI on Ilos, it does not appear to function any more." Tevlos replied.

"This all proves your Reaper theory is flawed and just how gullible you really are. You were manipulated by Saren and now by MECH." Sparatus spat at the young Prime. Jack could feel his anger starting to boil as he clenched his fists.

"I cant believe this, after I stopped Saren from destroying the Citadel while losing friends and allies along the way. This is the thanks I get." he replied, trying to keep a lid on his anger.

"But you are leaving us in a difficult position Jackson Prime. You are now working with MECH, a terrorist organisation and an enemy of this council. That is treason under our laws."

Optimus was about to step forward when Perceptor suddenly found his voice.

"That is going too far, Jackson Darby is a Prime and it is his duty to protect this galaxy no matter what obstacles lie in his way. I am on this council too and will not allow you to sully his name anymore."

The other councillors looked at Perceptor dumbstruck by his outburst, Tevlos regained her composure and looked back at Jack.

"Well maybe we can come to a compromise, not a public acknowledgement considering your close ties with MECH. But something that shows that we support you personally." She answered before looking to Sparatus who then spoke.

"Jackson Prime, if you keep your activities to the Terminus systems. We will have the Alliance reinstate your rank of Commander."

Jack thought for a second as he looked away before looking back at the councillors.

"Perceptor, thank you for your support and know that I am in no way disrespecting you with what I am about to say." Jack told him in a stoic manner. He then looked back at the other councillors.

"I decline your offer. I did not need your help when I saved this Council from Sovereign and I don't need it now. Because you are all too stupid and scared to see the truth." Jack answered defiantly. He then saw the utter dumbstruck looks on the councillors faces except for Sparatus, who just let his anger boil over.

"Right, I should have known that this would happen, you cannot trust Humans even now. So we will warn you only once 'Prime'. If your ship so much as enters either Council or Alliance space, even for a second, then it will be captured or destroyed. You have been warned." he fumed as the Turian stormed out of the room as the other councillors followed. Perceptor stayed behind and joined Optimus's side. The elder Prime had a worried look on his face.

"Well, that could have gone a little better."

Jack shrugged as his expression became more casual.

"Politicians and bureaucrats are not going to stop the Reapers when they finally arrive. And also if I had said yes, they would have found a way to tie my hands behind my back, like they have done with the Alliance."

The elder Prime nodded in agreement as he sighed.

"That is true, do not worry about the Council. Perceptor and myself will find someway to keep them off your back. As long as you stay in the areas that the Council has no reach." he replied as Perceptor nodded to Jack. The young Prime then looked at Optimus a little confused.

"I thought you would be against my working with MECH?" he asked.

"Well I am not happy about it, not for a moment. But Perceptor is right about what it means to be a Prime, and I would be a hypocrite if I had sided with the Council on this. Especially since it was I who accepted an alliance with Megatron, many years ago when Unicron posed a threat to Earth."

Jack smiled and nodded back to the elder Prime. The Autobot councillor then said his goodbyes while offering Jack his best before leaving the room. Just Optimus was left who then turned back to the screen.

"Well Jackson I would like to speak to you more, but I have a feeling that our com link is about to be cut."

Jack gave Optimus a lop sided grin.

"Yeah I have that feeling too."

The Autobot leader gave Jack a warm smile.

"Well in that case Jackson Prime, I want to wish you good luck on your mission. But be mindful of your position with MECH, they can not be trusted."

Jack nodded in return.

"I will Optimus and thank you. Until next we meet." he replied.

"Farewell my friend." Optimus finished as the screen deactivated, leaving Jack to his thoughts.

**PRIME EFFECT 2**

Jack was walking toward the common room when Airachnid walked into him.

"Oh hi Jack." she said a little embarrassed as she smiled at him.

"Sorry about that." she carried on sheepishly.

"No need to apologise, that was my fault." he replied as he scratched the back of his head in equal embarrassment.

"I should have been looking where I was going."

The femme looked at him observantly.

"Have a lot on your mind?" she asked knowingly.

Jack didn't know how she could tell but he could see in her expression that she was just concerned for him. Funny that many years ago he had thought of her as a sadistic monster, but now that he knew the truth about her past. He couldn't help but feel like he knew her in a much better way now, though for the life of him he didn't know how.

"Want to talk about it?" she asked while looking over to the common room. Jack smiled in return.

"Sure, I was on my way there anyway."

She smiled back, not knowing that her smile had made Jack feel a little better inside at that moment.

"Well I haven't been in there yet, so this might interesting." she replied.

"Well no one on this ship really knows you Airachnid." Jack said in return.

She looked back at him, that knowing smile again gracing her lips.

"Well not like you do Jack."

Jack then placed a hand out In front of her.

"After you." he said to her in a polite manner.

"Thank you." she replied as she walked into the common room with him following behind her. They then collected their drinks and sat at the table at the far side of the room, facing each other. There were a number of crewmen relaxing in the room, though if any of them had noticed Airachnid, they didn't show it. The femme took a sip from her drink, and noticed Jack eyeing it curiously.

"What are you drinking?"

She placed the glass on the table and licked the traces of it off her lips.

"I believe you call it prune juice."

Jack tried his best not to look squeamish, but failed.

"What?" she replied a little disturbed by the Prime's expression.

"Well, I'm not really a fan of it, it's too thick and sweet for my tastes. But if you like it." he said, as she then looked down at his drink.

"Well, what are you drinking?" she asked trying to sound annoyed. Jack stirred his mug's contents with a tea spoon as hot steam rose from the brown liquid.

"Just coffee." he answered as he took the spoon out and took a sip before pulling back suddenly not realising how piping hot it still was, wincing in the process. Airachnid chuckled.

"Hot is it?" she asked with a grin.

"Yeah, it is." Jack replied, still wincing from slightly burned lips as he placed the mug on the table and started stirring it again.

"So are you going to tell me what's on your mind?" she asked. Jack gave her a lop sided grin.

"You first."

She raised an eye brow at the Prime evading her question, but shrugged.

"Okay then, ask away." she answered.

"When we got back you said you wanted to be alone, so why were you up here?" he asked curiously as Airachnid looked down at her drink.

"I thought I did want to be alone down there, but once I was I realised you were right. Esmeral wouldn't want me to be like that and be keep everyone at arms distance, so I came up here." she answered truthfully.

"But you were just hanging around outside still." Jack replied observantly. Airachnid sighed and looked away, before looking back at the Prime with her purple eyes.

"I guess I didn't want to go in alone." The femme replied as she smiled back at him.

Jack returned the smile.

"I'm happy I could help."

For a moment they just smiled at one another, before Jack broke eye contact so that he could take a sip from his drink, though this time he didn't nearly burn his lips off.

"So, now it's your turn." Airachnid said gaining the Prime's attention as he put his mug down again, he then sighed and started talking. He told her about his talk with Optimus and the Council and how he turned away from them. The femme's expression changed to concern as she placed a hand gently on to Jack's.

"I'm sorry, they never really believed you about the Reapers did they."

She could see a tinge of anger on Jack's face.

"No and worse, they were actively trying to keep it all quiet. That's why I knew that I couldn't trust them to let me get on with my mission. If I had rejoined them, they would just try to slow me down." he replied sadly. Airachnid didn't realise it, but she had started to stroke Jack's hand with her thumb as she kept her hand over his. This hadn't gone unnoticed by Jack, who quietly enjoyed the comfort it was giving him.

"I know what you mean Jack. When the thirteen were created by Primus to combat Unicron, not all of them believed the danger he posed to the galaxy."

Jack looked at her curiously.

"Wait how do you know about that?"

She took a sip from her drink before continuing.

"Esmeral used to tell me, she was a historian before the war. Her favourite subject was the war between the thirteen primes and the chaos bringer." she said with affection in her voice for her sparkmate.

"Tell me about her?" Jack asked, gaining another smile from the femme as she looked away and remembered.

"Well, most nights I would return to our home in Crystal City and sit on our balcony and look out at he city skyline. Our system's star would just start to set as its light would reflect off he crystalline buildings giving the city this warm glow. Esmeral would then get back from her caste duties and sit with me, placing an arm around me and we would talk about how our days went. She would tell me everything that she researched or learnt. Esmeral could make anything sound interesting, she was that passionate about it." Arachnid replied.

"She sounds like a wonderful person, wish I could have met her." The Prime said, earning a smile from Arachnid.

"Yeah, she would have loved Earth. Especially your history, you know for a species that has barely lived a fraction of ours. You certainly have a rich past."

They then took a sip of heir drinks when they were suddenly interrupted.

"Oh, there you are."

They both looked up to see Garrus looking at them.

"Hey Airachnid, it's nice to see that you up and around with the rest of us."

Airachnid smirked at the Turian's comment.

"Thank you, it's nice to be here."

Jack gave Garrus a lopsided grin.

"Same could be said of you Garrus, since you spend most of each day calibrating the weapons." Jack said back with a tinge of sarcasm.

"What can I say, you can never be too careful. Plus we do end up in combat situations more times than I would like." Garrus shrugged as Jack pulled a chair out and gestured to the Turian to sit. His friend smiled back and joined them at the table before looking at their drinks.

"So, what are you two drinking?"

Airachnid finished off her drink before speaking.

"Well I just had a prune juice while Jack was burning his lips on a boiling mug of coffee." she finished with a chuckle. Garrus then looked over to the drinks counter and sighed.

"Damn, looks like chef hasn't restocked the dextro-protein drinks, oh well I have plenty in my quarters." he said disappointedly before turning back to Jack and Airachnid.

"So what are we talking about?"

The other two looked at each other for a second before being interrupted by Hotrod's voice over the inter com.

"Prime, we have an incoming call from the Director. He says it's urgent."

Jack sighed as he tapped his con link.

"Copy Hotrod, I'll take it in the briefing room." he replied before looking back to his friends.

"Sorry but duty calls, it was nice talking with you Airachnid." he replied warmly to the femme who smiled back with the same affection.

"Likewise Jack, we should do it again sometime."

Jack nodded in return before heading out of the common room, as Garrus smiled at the femme.

"So, what's new?" he asked curiously.

Silas stood in front of a hologram of the Quintesson cruiser, made up from the scans that Teletraan had taken when the Defiant was in orbit over Horizon. He looked over the ship as he admired the technical marvel that it was. Then Jackson prime appeared in the room via the holo-communicator. Slias turned to him, looking at the Prime with his yellow optics.

"Prime, I think we caught a break. I intercepted a distress call from an Asari patrol. They had a run in with a Quintesson cruiser. The patrol was destroyed but not before crippling the cruiser." He said before picking up his drink from the stand next to him and taking a sip.

"How did an Asari patrol manage to disable a Quintesson ship?"

Silas then pressed a finger against the Quintesson ship's image and it changed to a screen showing its location on the galaxy map.

"I'm not sure, but this might be our best chance to gain Intel on the Quintessons. Especially on how they manage to use the Omega four subspace rift to reach their home world. I want you to take the Defiant to these coordinates and board the cruiser and allow teletraan access to its computer core."

Jack cocked his head and gave the director a sceptical look before pointing toward the map.

"I don't know if your aware but neither myself or my ship is exactly welcome in Council space."

Silas gave Jack a stoic look.

"I know what happened during your meeting with the Council. Everything that goes on in 'my ship' is reported back to me."

Jack crossed his arms and gave the director a stern look.

"I don't like being spied on Silas."

Silas ignored the Prime's look and took another drink from his glass.

"Don't think of it as spying, more like keeping an eye on my investment. We share the same goals here after all. And I need to know that you and your team will be ready when the time is right."

Jack looked away and wondered what else Silas had seen while spying on him. Did he know what Jack did for Airachnid earlier. But then the Director spoke and that brought Jack back to his attention.

"Prime, time is precious. The Quintessons are obviously either repairing the cruiser or sending another ship to help. The Asari too will send another patrol to find out what happened. And I know you will not want to be around when they show up."

Jack nodded as he knew that after how his meeting with the council had gone, they would more likely shoot the Defiant out of the sky as soon as they saw them.

"Alright send me the coordinates, we will head there immediately."

The Briefing room changed back to its original look as the holo-communicator deactivated.

"Prime to Hotrod, did you receive the coordinates?" He asked as he started for the exit to the CIC.

"Sure did, lets go find us a Quintesson ship." Hotrod answered.

**PRIME EFFECT 2**

In the middle of nowhere, the Quinesson cruiser drifted through the vast void of space as the Defiant appeared out of hyperspace and flew past the debris that was once the Asari patrol and toward it's target.

"God look at the size of it." Hotrod exclaimed as he looked out at the colossus in front of them. Jack stood beside him in his armour with his arms crossed as he looked at it too.

"Teletraan, what can you tell us?" he asked as Hotrod nervously piloted the ship closer.

"I have ran a scan on the cruiser Jackson Prime, its power core is offline and I am not detecting any life signs on board, organic or synthetic."

Jack placed a hand on his pilot's shoulder.

"Hey, its going to be alright Hotrod." he said reassuringly.

The Autobot looked up at him.

"Sorry, I just had a moment of déjà vu from the last time I piloted a ship against that thing." he answered hesitantly.

Jack gave him a supportive smile before turning around and heading to the elevator.

As the Defiant got within a couple hundred meters of the cruiser's hull. The shuttle bay door opened and shuttle one flew out and toward the Quintesson's ship. The shuttle then spotted an opening in the hull, obviously created by the damage done by the Asari. The shuttle then flew in and landed on the other side.

The hatch opened and Jack, Miranda and Soundwave exited the craft and entered the surroundings of the Quintesson cruiser. All three were wearing their breather helmets. All three had their weapons ready as they started down into the metallic corridors. Jack couldn't help but notice how much the décor looked like Cybertronian architecture. He looked back to see Soundwave just as in awe of it.

"Soundwave, you alright?" Jack asked. The spymaster simply nodded in return, as Jack turned back to Miranda.

"So have any idea where to start?"

Miranda activated her holo-tool and brought up a map of the cruiser.

"According to scans taken by Teletraan, the computer core is only a short distance away, once there we can have it connect with the core and download the information we need."

She then deactivated it and looked back at Jack.

"Sounds like a plan, lets get moving." the Prime replied.

The three then walked deeper into the ship.

After several minutes of searching through the corridors Jack and his team entered a large room filled with pods, each pod was the basic height of a humanoid. Jack looked closely at one of the pods as his mind came to a terrible conclusion.

"Could it be possible that this ship is the same one that attacked Horizon?" he asked as he looked at his team mates.

Soundwave looked back at Jack, his face completely blank. While Miranda looked at her holo-tool. Suddenly Jack's com link activated.

"Jackson Prime, I have been monitoring your team and in response I ran a scan of the ship and compared it to the scans I performed to the ship that attacked Horizon. They are an exact match." Teletraan said in a direct manner.

Jack eyes widened at the comment.

"Well it looks like our mission objectives have just changed. We have to see if the colonists who were taken are here and rescue them if we can."

Both his team mates looked away for a second as Teletraan spoke again.

"Prime, as I said earlier, I have detected no life signs. If I was to make a thesis, it would be that this cruiser transported the colonists to their home world and then came back to attack another colony, only for the ship to come under attack by the Asari patrol."

Jack looked down to the ground as he felt his heart sink at the realisation that the colonists were gone.

"Okay then lets carry on with our original mission." he said before noticing Soundwave pointing to the left. Jack turned round and saw another pod hooked up to what looked like a computer console. As the three walked over to get a closer look, they saw that one of the Quintesson drones was inside.

"Were they experimenting on their own?" Miranda questioned as Jack connected Teletraan to the computer via his holo-tool.

"I am going through their data files now. It would appear that they were trying to compare the human physiology with their own." the AI stated.

Jack looked over the data that had appeared on his holo-tool while Teletraan had been speaking.

"Why, the Quintessons are obviously synthetic. Why bother?

Soundwave and Miranda kept an eye out as Jack continued to look at the body in the pod.

" I do not have enough data to make an accurate assessment. But I have ran their DNA pattern against all other races in our database and only one match was found." the AI replied.

"Okay what is it then? Jack asked, his curiosity peaked.

"It is of a race long since thought dead, purged by the Reapers."

Jack's eyes widened and his mouth slightly open at Teletraan's words as his vision from two years previously now made perfect sense.

"My god..." he said gaining the attention of Miranda and Soundwave.

"...The Lithone weren't wiped out, they are just working for the Reapers now."

Miranda looked down at the body and then at Jack in total shock.

"Are you sure?" she asked before Teletraan spoke again.

"It would appear that the Reapers could not harvest them like the strongest races of previous cycles so made use of them in another capacity."

Jack looked away from the body as he thought on what he would say in return.

"Is there anyway we can help them?" he asked, a slight pleading tone in his voice.

"Unfortunately the Reapers have made to many changes to the Lithone, both mentally and physically. They no longer have any of the traits or attributes that we would expect the Lithone to have. They are merely shadows of their former selves."

Jack looked down at the Quintesson body and felt sorry for it.

"That is a terrible fate for anyone to have to endure, but they are now working for the Reapers. Which means that we have to stop them." he said to his team.

"The computer core is at the far end of another large room that spans most of the length of the ship. The entrance is at the north end of the room you are in now." the AI responded.

"Thanks Teletraan, Prime out." Jack replied before closing the com link and headed in the direction of the computer core with Miranda and Soundwave following.

They then entered the larger room and were floored by the sight before them. The room was like a gigantic tunnel, and the walls were covered in pods.

"They could take all the humans in the Terminus systems and still have plenty of room for more." Miranda stated as she looked at the sight around her.

"They are going for Earth." Jack replied as he saw what looked like the control centre up ahead. He gestured the others to follow him as Hotrod's voice came over the con link.

"Prime, I had a thought and asked Teletraan to match up the scans we have now with the ones that the Normandy made two year ago. They are an exact match."

Jack stopped in his tracks and looked back at the others who were listening in.

"Wait are you saying that this ship has been shadowing me for two years, that seems way to much to be a coincidence." Jack replied.

"Yeah, something doesn't add up, just watch your back okay." Hotrod finished as the team made their way to the heart of the ship. There was just a large slab in the middle of the room with a computer screen in its center. Jack walked up to it and immediately set up a link with Teletraan on his holo-tool. The holo-image of it appearing on the screen.

"I am searching through their database now." the AI said as Jack and the others kept an eye out on their surroundings.

"Ever get the feeling you are being watched?" Miranda mentioned to Soundwave who nodded back. He then tapped what looked like a metallic cylinder that was on his back. It opened up to reveal Laserbeak as it spread its wings and took flight above them, searching the area around them.

"I have found the information we are looking for and downloaded additional data."

Jack smiled at the image of Teletraan.

"Good work, we'll make our way back now." he replied.

"Wait, I have run into a problem, my connection is being terminated I….." the com link died and Teletraan disappeared as a shot was fired which ripped through Laserbeak. The bird fell to the ground and Soundwave ran over and scooped up his friend in his arms. Miranda and Jack both readied their weapons. The sound of something powering up could be heard as the room began to shake.

"Prime, Teletraan has been shut out of the system and I am picking up a power signature from the Cruiser, looks like it is coming online, you should head back to the shuttle." Hotrod warned over the com link. Jack then looked at Soundwave, who's expression changed from sadness to anger.

"We have to go Soundwave." he said as the former con nodded and equipped his sonic blaster. The three then backed out of the control-center before a voice boomed around them.

"You are not going anywhere!" a monstrous voice called out. The team turned around to see a figure crawl out from the shadows into view. It had the body of a snake and numerous tentacles for arms, and its head was inside a helmet that looked like a serpent's head. It opened its mouth to reveal a face, its bright green eyes staring at the Prime.

"You fell for our trap, our master will be pleased." it gloated as its face shifted from angry to happy, before switching to a blank expression.

"Who are you?" Jack asked while keeping his weapon aimed at the creature.

"I am Alpha Q and I control the Quintessons for my master." the creature replied. Miranda and Soundwave noticed Quintesson drones appear from the shadows around them.

"Let me guess, your masters are the Reapers."

Alpha Q's face shifted to happy again as it laughed.

"No, No. Our master is called Harbinger, we have no other masters." It said. Jack looked behind him to see that the exit was only guarded by two drones, before looking back to Alpha Q. He noticed that it was standing in front of what looked like fuel tanks.

"Well, thanks for the Intel and you have been a wonderful host. But we should be making tracks." Jack replied. The Quintesson leader's face shifted to angry again.

"Like I said before, you are not going anywhere!" It spat back. Jack though winked at it confidently.

"We'll see about that." he replied before firing a burst of bullets that narrowly missed Alpha Q before impacting the tanks. The Quintesson looked back at the Prime.

"You have pathetic aim, Prime." he gloated back with his happy face. Jack though just smirked back at him.

"I wasn't aiming at you." he answered sarcastically. Alpha Q's face shifted again to shocked as it turned round just in time for the tanks to explode, knocking it to the ground. The Drones then began firing on the group, Jack bringing up the Skyboom shield to cover his team mates who provided covering fire while he fired on the two drones guarding the exit.

"We are clear, make a run for the shuttle." he shouted as they ran out of the control centre and made their way back to the shuttle with more drones closing on them from behind. As they ran and fired back at the Quintessons chasing them, Jack activated his com link.

"Hotrod, I hope you have the engines fired because we will be coming in hot." Jack said as he fired back at the enemy, taking three more down as Soundwave knocked another into the wall with his sonic blaster.

"We are already waiting for you with Shuttle bay doors open. Just make it quick, because the cruiser is powering up quickly." the Autobot pleaded as Jack used the Skyboom shield to protect Miranda who was reloading her SMG.

"Roger that, we are nearly there." Jack answered back as Miranda gave the Prime a thankful smile for the assist. The three had finally reached the area where the shuttle was as legions of Drones were now on their tail. Jack covered the others who entered the shuttle's hatch before he too climbed in and closed it behind them. The drones fired on the shuttle as it took off and flew out of the ship and towards the Defiant. The Quintesson Cruiser started to light up as the shuttle entered the Defiant's shuttle bay which closed behind them.

"We are aboard, now go!" Jack said over the comm as Hotrod pulled the ship away, just as the cruiser powered up its main cannon which fired a powerful yellow beam at the frigate which evaded it by spinning around it and veering away.

"Activating the hyper-drive in five, four, three, two, one…" Hotrod said as the Defiant Jumped away just as the Quintesson ship fired again, hitting nothing but open space.

Jack and the others exited the shuttle as he noticed Soundwave looking down at the corpse of Laserbeak in his hands.

"I'm sorry Soundwave." Jack said sadly as he looked at the spymaster. The former Con looked up from Laserbeak to Jack and nodded before walking toward the elevator. Jack then turned to Miranda.

"Is it just me or did the Quintessons stage that whole thing." he asked in a sarcastic manner.

Miranda looked back at him.

"Yes, but I doubt the Director would have known about it, otherwise he would not have sent us on such a mission." she replied honestly.

"You sure about that, because the Silas I know would have no qualms about sending people on such missions." Jack responded in a matter of fact tone which made Miranda look away.

"No he wouldn't do that, not to me." she said, catching Jack off guard.

"What do you mean?" he asked curiously. But Miranda waved him off.

"Nothing Prime, I am kind of tired. Can we do this later." she asked in a evading way. Jack simply nodded and she left for the elevator. Jack though just stood there for a moment before he activated his com link.

"Teletraan, can you look into the Asari distress signal for me?" he asked.

"Of course Prime, but what do you hope to find? The AI asked curiously.

"I'm not sure, just let me know what you find when you are finished." he replied as he then entered the elevator after it returned his floor.

"Very well." Teletraan responded.

Once he was back in the CIC, Jack walked up to the cockpit to see a smiling Hotrod looking back.

"Now how was that for an escape?" he asked happily. Jack stood beside him patted the Autobot's shoulder.

"Great flying Hotrod, what is our current status?"

The pilot looked at his screen as he kept his hands on the controls.

"We are about to enter the space bridge and leave Council space. You will be glad to hear that no council ships detected us while we were trespassing."

Jack looked down at his friend with a troubled expression.

"Yeah about that Hotrod…" he said before being interrupted by the pilot who gave him a warm smile.

"Don't worry about it Prime. I trust your judgement and plus those Councillors, not including Perceptor of course. Are a bunch of idiots for not taking you seriously about the Reapers, so I say good riddance."

Jack smiled back at Hotrod as he felt much better.

"Thanks I appreciate that." he replied as they both looked ahead to see the vortex of the space bridge surround their ship as they entered it.

Jack turned away and was about to leave when teletraan's holo-form appeared next to him.

"Prime, I have found something that I find quite disturbing if I am to be frank about it."

Jack looked at Teletraan, crossing his arms in process.

"Why, what did you find?" he asked curiously.

"Well, after looking through all the code that made up the distress signal I found several anomalies that I identified as Quintesson in nature."

Jack nodded at the AI.

"So the Quintessons manufactured the message to set a trap up for us." he replied.

"Yes, but what puzzles me is that the Director should have spotted it."

Jack's eyes widened at the comment.

"What are you saying Teletraan?" he asked, feeling anger building up inside.

"MECH uses highly advanced decoding software in its communication and intelligence gathering programs. The Director would have given the distress signal a complete scan and would have seen that it was a fake."

Jack clenched his fists as he started to breath a little heavier.

"So you are saying that Silas sent us on that mission, knowing fully well that it was a trap." he said.

"That is the only conclusion that I can come up with that would explain this whole situation. Though you expected me to find this didn't you, why else would you ask me to check the signal?" the AI said.

"I had a hunch, kind of hoped that it would not be true. But anyway thank you for looking Teletraan." Jack replied looking at the AI.

"You are welcome Jackson Prime." it responded before shutting down its holo-form. Hotrod though had been eves dropping on their conversation, and now turned to look at the Prime.

"And wouldn't you know it, the Director is calling right now for your report on the mission."

Jack turned to the pilot and gave him a stoic expression, trying to hide the building in anger within himself.

"Well then, lets not keep him waiting." he replied as he walked off towards the briefing room. Hotrod smiled as he turned back to his station, knowing that for Silas, the shit had just hit the fan.


	7. Chapter 7

 

As he walked into the briefing room, Jack could feel his blood begin to boil. He stepped onto the holo-communicator pad and let it scan his body as it made a connection to the Silas's unknown location. Silas himself was overlooking the information that Jack's team had procured from the Quintesson ship as the Prime appeared before him.

"Prime, I believe we have hit gold, the information that Teletraan downloaded…." he spoke as Jack cut him off angrily.

"Can it, I knew you would show your true colours, it was just a matter of time."

The Director looked at the Prime confused.

"I beg your pardon?"

The young Prime stared daggers at him.

"Teletraan just confirmed what I was already suspecting since the mission. The Quintessons were waiting for us on that ship. The distress signal was a trap and you knew about it." Jack spat at him as Silas's expression changed from confusion to anger.

"We are at war. The Quintessons are abducting humans and every second we waste is one more we give the enemy to prepare." he spat back as his yellow optics narrowed at the Prime, but Jack was not impressed.

"I know the stakes, but we are supposed to be allies and yet I can't trust you."

Slias crossed his arms as the Prime spoke, his optics never looking away from him.

"Look, without that information we don't reach the Quintesson home world and you and every other Human may as well be dead." he then walked closer to Jack.

"It was trap, but I was confident that you and your crew could handle the situation." Silas said as Jack looked over to the screen beside the Director.

"You could have told me the truth. You say I am important but sure have a funny way of showing it." Jack replied coldly.

"I needed the Quintessons to think that they had you fooled. If I had informed you of their intentions, it could have tipped them off in any number of ways." Silas countered.

"I don't risk people, there is always another way." Jack replied defiantly.

Silas shook his head gently as he looked away.

"You didn't like being kept in the dark, truth be told neither would I. But the facts are with me. There are always difficult decisions to be made, ones that we cannot avoid. But fortunately….this time it paid off."

Silas then activated a screen beside him, which in turn made a screen appear next to Jack.

"What's this?" he asked as he glanced down at it, wondering if this was the Director's attempt at changing the subject.

"The data Teletraan downloaded confirmed my suspicions. The Reaper and Quintesson ships use an advanced IFF (Identify Friend/Foe system) that sends a signal through the rift and allows safe travel for them. We just need to get our hands on one of those IFF's."

"Well if you told us what you knew before hand, we may have been able to grab the one on the Cruiser." Jack replied.

Silas shook his head again as he deactivated the screen, making both disappear.

"You didn't exactly have enough time to retrieve it, though your confidence is commendable. I have a few ideas about where we can find one, but it will take a little time for me to find out which is most viable option to go for. I will send you the information on the target and its coordinates when I have them finalised."

Jack crossed his arms.

"So you want us to sit and twiddle our thumbs in the mean time?"

Silas picked up the glass from the stand behind him and took a sip of the liquid inside before looking back to the Prime.

"It can't be helped. But in the meantime I suggest that you do not tell the crew about what I did. They have enough on their plates without the extra crap that this situation could cause. It will make things easier going forward." He said as he tapped another screen next to him, ending the transmission.

Jack found himself standing in the briefing room again. He thought about what Silas had said but felt that his team deserved to know the truth. He wasn't going to be told by someone light years away to cover their ass for them and lie to the crew. He activated his com link.

"Teletraan, ask everyone to join me here in the briefing room please." he asked in stoic tone.

"Of course Prime." the AI responded.

A few minutes later and Jack and his team were standing around the conference table. Garrus, Jacob, Zaeed and Soundwave on one side and on the other was Airachnid, Jackson Prime and Miranda. The young Prime had just informed them of his talk with Silas and what the Director had kept back from them during the last mission. Everyone's faces were a mixture of shock and anger except for Soundwave who just looked blankly at everyone. Zaeed was the first to speak.

"So that bastard left us out there with no bloody clue. When I see him, I'll show him what I think of him hoarding his fucking secrets." he ranted as Jack looked to his left to see Miranda, her face was one more of shock and sadness than anything else.

"Well it wouldn't be the way I would of handled it, but we did get the information we needed." Garrus spoke, trying to be the voice of reason. Jack reluctantly nodded in agreement.

"Yeah, I just hope that this IFF is worth it."

Teletraan's holo-form appeared on the table.

"With the information we obtained from the Quintesson vessel, I have come to the conclusion that the IFF will allow us safe passage through the rift. I have also recovered coordinates from their navigational system to pinpoint the exact location of the their home world."

The AI's image then disappeared as a model of the galaxy appeared in its place and a cross-hair appeared on it and moved around the galaxy before stopping at its center. Miranda was brought out of her thoughts as she stared at the image in front of her.

"That can't be right" she said in a curious tone. Jack though looked convinced enough.

"That has to be right. The Quintesson home-world is somewhere in the galactic core."

Jacob shook his head in defiance.

"The core is full of exploding stars and black holes. There are no habitable planets there."

Garrus decided to speak again.

"Maybe it's a space station then, I mean these guys used to be the Lithone…"

The Turian looked at Jack who carried on.

"And they now work for the Reapers, our true enemy. Remember they created the Citadel after all, so who's to say that they can't build a station surrounded by collapsing stars."

Teletraan reappeared next to the galaxy image.

"It would be safe to assume that there is a safe zone surrounding the station and that there is also a satellite on their side of the rift that when given the correct code, stabilises the anomaly for safe passage. Any ships travelling through without an IFF would either be torn apart by the subspace fluctuations or thrown out beyond the safe zone and destroyed by the gravitational fields created by the black holes."

As the AI spoke, Jack looked over to Airachnid and noticed that she had been watching him intently. He decided to act like he had not noticed which made a slight smile appear on her face as she looked away. He then looked back at the team.

"Well all of this means nothing until we get the location of an IFF from Silas. So in the mean time I want this ship to be ready for anything, ok dismissed." he said as the others nodded and left the room, one after the other. Miranda made her way past Jack as he stopped her suddenly.

"Miranda, can you wait. I would like to speak to you." he asked in a gentle voice, which surprised her.

"Of course." she said, unsure of what he was going to ask. As Airachnid walked out of the room, she looked back to see Jack and Miranda talking and watched them for a second before leaving. The MECH Agent looked uncomfortable as she leaned back against the table, Jack had just dropped a bombshell on her and he needed to know how she felt about that and most importantly, if he could even trust her. Because she was Silas's best agent.

"Miranda, what did you mean earlier when you said that Silas wouldn't place you in danger, because we both know now that he did." Jack asked as Miranda looked down to the ground. "Miranda, since we started this mission, I haven't kept anything back from you. So I would appreciate the same curtsy."

Miranda looked up at Jack and sighed.

"It's personal Prime?" she answered back hesitantly as she raked her fingers through her hair, not wanting to continue this conversation. Jack though did not budge and just stared at her stoically before his expression calmed.

"Call me Jack" he replied gaining a look of surprise from the agent.

"Talk to me, why is it personal. Who is he to you?" he asked again gently.

"Jack." she said in a uncertain tone. "He is my father."

Jack's calm expression turned to one of shock as he looked dumbfounded at the woman in front of him.

"Your father….but his surname is Bishop, whiles your is Lawson." Jack replied confused.

"He didn't raise me, you see my father and mother always wanted a son, but when I was born he gave me up for adoption without a second look." she replied as her eyes started to well up. "Do you have any idea how it feels to know, that from the moment you were born that your parents never wanted you." she said as tears started to run down her cheeks. Jack leaned his back against the table next to her and placed his hand on hers sympathetically.

"Actually I do know what that's like in part." he replied. Miranda looked at him as she wiped the tears from her cheeks.

"My father walked out on me and my mom when I was very young. I can't even remember his face, not that I would want too. But I can't believe that 'a couple' would turn away their own child just because it didn't turn out the way they had wanted." He looked away and sighed before looking back at her.

"I am sorry. I would understand if you didn't want to talk about it now."

Miranda though gave him a sad smile.

"No, its funny but talking about it seems to help. I have spent most of my adult life bottling up my feelings and just focusing on what I had to do, but now that I am talking about it. It feels like a weight has been lifted off me and I can finally breath..." she answered honestly.

"...You see after they left me, I was soon given to loving family that went by the surname Lawson. I had a very happy childhood and did exceptionally well at school. Wanting to be the very best I could be, but then came the day when my parents told me that they were not my real parents. I became angry at them and told them I hated them."

Jack looked at her with a confused expression.

"Why, I mean they obviously loved you very much and probably felt that they were protecting you from the truth." Jack replied in a reasoning tone.

"I eventually saw it that way, but back then I was young and naïve. I felt that they were keeping me from my real mother and father. After a while though I did calm down and make up with my adoptive parents. But I still wanted to know who my birth parents were. So when I graduated from high school, I started to look for them. It took a while but I managed to track my father down after a year or so."

Jack looked at her surprised.

"That's impressive, you managed to find a man who prides himself with staying ahead of enemies and allies alike. On being a shadow as it were." Jack replied.

"I know, I started by going through the records of the orphanage where they dropped me off, the names were fake but I did find patterns in the data that allowed me trace them. And so I followed the trail to each dead end, finding more traces that I tracked until the day came where I was standing in front of my father." she said as she remembered that day.

"How did that go?" Jack asked curiously.

"Not well, Silas openly told me that he and my mother didn't want me, because I was not the son they wanted."

Jack looked at her shocked again.

"What, he just came out and said that?" he asked in a disbelieving tone.

Miranda nodded and sighed.

"Yes, not the best way to patch up a relationship, but he was extremely impressed with how I managed to track him down, considering that he was former black ops and made it his job to cover his tracks at every turn. So he offered me a job." she answered.

"And you just accepted it, considering that he didn't want you as his daughter?" he asked again, his curiosity peaked. Miranda chuckled softly as she stroked her hair.

"Well it was good money and it allowed me to be close to my Father. I still felt like I had to try and be a part of his life, to get his approval. And I did, after a few years of training and a lot of successful ops. He started to warm to me and I believed that he started to see me as his daughter. That's when I started to trust him."

Jack then had a troubling thought appear in his mind.

"Wait, what about your mother. Where was she?"

Miranda looked away, a troubled expression forming on her face.

"She had died a few years earlier… My father killed her." she replied.

Jack again was shocked by what he had heard.

"Why, what did she do to deserve that?" he asked.

The agent looked back at Jack.

"He told me that she had betrayed him to an enemy during what was supposed to be a easy op. It turned into a blood bath and he lost a lot of soldiers. So he then hunted her down and killed her. He said that he did not take betrayal lightly." she replied, the last part in an almost frightened tone. Jack looked to the wall in front of him as he dwelled on what she had told him. He then looked back at her.

"I guess you believed him about that."

She nodded slowly and sighed.

"Yes, I believed everything he told me, but after what happened today. I don't know."

Jack stood up and turned to face her, his expression sympathetic.

"Miranda, I am sorry you had to find out about your father the way you did. I…" he was then cut off by her standing up and leaning in close until she kissed him on the cheek. When she pulled back, Jack looked at her with a mixture of confusion and surprise. She just smiled warmly back to him.

"Thank you Jack. You have no idea how good it feels to talk and get all of this out in the open."

Jack smiled back.

"You're a member of my crew, Miranda and I consider you a friend."

"I appreciate that." she replied as she turned and started to leave as Jack followed her. They then stopped next to the door as she turned back to him.

"I have to think long and hard about my future with MECH and my father, but it can wait until the end of our mission." she said as she opened the door and walked out.

"Tell me something..." he asked, making her stop and look back.

"Are you still in contact with your adopted parents?"

Miranda smiled back as she answered him.

"Yes, and though they don't know the job that I do, they are extremely proud of me." her expression then became thoughtful as she looked back at the Prime.

"Even though Silas is my father, I will always consider them my parents." she answered back honestly. Jack merely nodded back as a smile appeared on his face. She then turned around and walked into the CIC. Jack was about to walk there himself when his com link activated.

"Prime, Soundwave would like to 'speak' to you in the science lab." Hotrod said. Jack acknowledged his pilot and walked off to meet with the spymaster.

**PRIME EFFECT 2**

Soundwave was working at a console with Ravage lying at his feet when Jack entered the room and stopped next to the former con.

"You wanted to see me Soundwave?" the Prime asked and Soundwave pointed at the console next to him. Jack looked at the information on the screen.

"You want to go to Tuchunka, why?" he asked. The former con simply pointed back at the screen which then showed Frenzy's schematics and a location appear on the map of the planet.

"You think whoever turned Frenzy against you back on Omega is at Tuchunka?"

Soundwave merely nodded as Jack's face looked troubled as he remembered what Wrex had told him two years earlier. He then looked back at the spymaster, who's face looked as blank as ever.

"Okay, I'll have Hotrod set a course. But I'll have to warn you, I know one of the Krogan there and he told me the part you played in the creation of the genophage. Now if we go, you will have to keep a low profile and pray that no one recognises you. Now I know that because you are now in a pretender body that the chances are unlikely but still." Jack said in a stoic tone. Soundwave's face started to change as he looked unsure, but he merely nodded in return. Jack then left the science lab and headed for the cockpit.

The Defiant jumped out of hyperspace and entered orbit around the brown planet of Tuchunka, home world of the Krogan race. The ship's shuttle bay door opened and shuttle one flew out and down to the planet below. Onboard the shuttle was Jack, Soundwave, Airachnid and Garrus. Jack was looking out of the of the window, while the spymaster was seated in silence. The Turian was chatting to the former spider-bot, but did not notice that Airachnid was taking sneak looks at the Prime as he stood there all stoic like.

"We will be touching down in five minutes Prime." the shuttle pilot informed him as Jack turned around to look at his team.

"Okay, We will seek a meeting with the leader of clan Urdnot."

Garrus put his hand up, gaining the Prime's attention.

"Who is the clan-leader Jack?"

Jack smiled back at his friend.

"Our old team-mate Wrex, he has brought together a number of the other clans in an attempt to unify the race."

The Turian grinned at the news.

"Wrex, I haven't seen him in two years. Never would have thought of him as a leader mind you. But it will be good to see him again."

Jack then gave Soundwave a knowing look, to which the spymaster simply nodded in return.

"So the four of us will go in, speak to Wrex and gather Intel for Soundwave."

Airachnid and Soundwave glanced at each other before nodding at the Prime. Jack noticed this and had known that since both had been aboard the Defiant, neither had even spoken to each other. Jack didn't know what the problem between them was and this certainly wasn't the time to ask.

The shuttle flew through the sand storm that battered the remains of what was once a great City and entered a stone building that looked a little like a bunker, through the opening in it's roof and landed on a make shift landing pad. The hatch then opened and the team were met by a group of Krogan who immediately approached Jack.

The group's leader stomped up to the Prime and attempted to stare him down but Jack did not flinch. Airachnid could not help but smile at the Human Prime. The Krogan in front of him must have been double his size, but Jack took it in his stride. As he was being rebuilt by MECH, She had read all about what Jack had achieved before his premature death as he went from soldier to a Prime. And having served with him on the Defiant, had witnessed first hand the man he had grown into. She had to admit, she liked it a lot.

"Human, what are you doing here?" the Krogan growled as he looked at Jack.

"We are here to meet with Urdnot Wrex." he replied stoically.

The Krogan took a sniff of the air between the two of them and shook his head.

"Urdnot Wrex is busy. He will not see anyone else." he replied.

"I know he will make an exception for me." Jack said back.

The Krogan then looked Jack up and down.

"I don't see anything special about you Human." he spat back.

Jack though smirked at the Krogan.

"That's because you're a dumb-ass who has all the skill and smarts of a pyjak."

The Krogan then roared at the Prime before throwing a punch which Jack blocked easily countered, palming his attacker in the face and then kicking at his leg, knocking the Krogan to the ground and then while still holding his arm, twisted it until everyone there heard a bone crack. Making his attacker yelp in pain.

"Okay, okay you win, let go of my arm.."

Jack threw the Krogan's arm down, stood up and noticed Airachnid looking at him in awe, a large smile on her face. Jack nearly blushed, but managed to keep it under control as he winked at her before turning to the other Krogan who had took a step back.

"Right, can I now see Urdnot Wrex or do I have to beat you all down too?" he asked as the other Krogan looked at each other, afraid to speak up.

"Yes go on through." the beaten one on the ground said while grimacing in pain.

After walking through a long tunnel, the group came up to a large room that had numerous Krogan working around the area. Jack looked up to a part of the room that had been risen up and saw Wrex standing there and arguing with another Krogan who was wearing grey armour with blue neon patterns on it.

"You are making too many reforms Wrex, when you should be responding in force. That is what tradition demands. The other clans will not tolerate this kind of action from you as it will make you look weak." The other Krogan spoke with disdain towards Wrex who looked like he had had enough before he noticed a friend he thought he would never see again.

"Jack!.." he shouted happily before pushing the Krogan out of the way and walking down to meet the Prime.

"...my friend."

They shook hands as Jack smiled at Wrex, while Airachnid and Soundwave looked on bemused.

"I should have known that death wouldn't be able to keep a hold on you Jack." he smiled.

"And you made chief. That's a hell of a promotion from mercenary, Wrex." Jack replied.

Wrex chuckled at the comment.

"Yeah well travelling around the galaxy with you opened my eyes, Especially at Virmire. I used Saren's failed attempts to control the Krogan to unify the clans under Urdnot, but not everyone was happy about it."

The other Krogan stepped beside Wrex.

"You have abandoned many traditions to get your way and that is very dangerous."

Wrex then turned to the Krogan and head butted him.

"Speak when spoken to Uvenk, I'll drag your clan to glory, whether it likes it or not."

He then walked away as Jack followed, ignoring Uvenk who stood at the side wincing.

"So Jack what can I do for you?" Wrex asked as he sat down on what appeared to be a throne.

"I have a friend with me who needs.." he was stopped by a hand on his shoulder.

"Jackson Prime, please let me ask him." Soundwave spoke, which left Jack, Airachnid and Garrus shocked, but Wrex looked at them confused.

"Who is this Jack?"

The Prime looked at Soundwave, a concerned look on his face.

"You sure about this?"

The spymaster merely nodded. Jack then sighed and stepped out of his way.

"Alright then."

Wrex looked more confused as he stared down at the human in dark blue armour before him.

"Who are you?" he asked.

The spymaster remained quiet for a moment, his face blank. He then looked up at Wrex.

"My name is Soundwave and I require your assistance." he spoke in a calm and civilized manner.

Wrex looked at the former con standing before him, still confused. But then the spymaster's words hit home and the Krogan leader remembered as his eyes narrowed and he bared his teeth before launching himself at Soundwave, roaring in rage.

"YOU!"


	8. Chapter 8

 

Soundwave hit the floor hard as Wrex held him down by his throat and growled lowly at him, his face mere inches away. This gained the attention of the other Krogan who had stopped working and gathered around to see what their leader was doing.

"I am going to make you pay for what you did to my people." he seethed as the former con just stared at him blankly.

"I said I….. ugh!" Soundwave managed before the Krogan tightened his grip. He then pulled the spymaster off the floor and held him up in the air.

"I have no interest in what you have to say."

The Krogan leader then suddenly felt a hand grip his shoulder.

"Wrex, let Soundwave go. This isn't helping anyone." Jack tried to reason, but the Krogan's answer was to knock the Prime away.

"Stay out of this Jack." he growled as he then turned back to see the con trying to free himself from the battle master's iron grip, regaining his attention.

"Don't think you can get out of that, I have something special planned for you." he said as a sly grin appeared on his face. He then walked off with Soundwave towards a pit that was just off to the left of where his throne was. The rest of the group just looked on in shock as Jack again tried to get through to the Krogan leader.

"Wrex, I remember what you told me about the Decepticon occupation during the war, including them unleashing the genophage. But this is not the answer."

Wrex turned sharply to look at the Prime.

"Why do you care what happens to this scum?" he spat as the three of them neared the pit. At this close Jack could see that the pit was filled with varren, a vicious reptilian-like quadruped creature that the Krogan use as beasts of war. Jack looked back at his Krogan friend.

"Because he is a member of my crew." Jack replied with an almost pleading tone.

"Well you should have chosen your crew members more wisely Jack. Especially when they are considered war criminals. Now stay out of this!" the Krogan warned the Prime as he pushed him back again.

Once Wrex had carried Soundwave to the edge of pit, he then held the former con over the edge. The varren below had noticed and growled in anticipation of their next meal as they looked up. The Krogan leader looked at the spymaster in his grip, but saw that his quarry was still blank faced, and this infuriated him.

"Aren't you fearing for your life Con?" he asked, feeling his blood boil at how blank faced his enemy was. Soundwave tried to speak, but found that his voice box was constricted by the Krogan's grip, so Wrex loosened his grip ever so slightly.

"I don't fear death." he replied calmly. Wrex grinned back at him.

"Good." he said as he let go and Soundwave started to fall as Jack and the others watched in horror. But then Soundwave grabbed Wrex's hand and pulled him in too as they both landed hard on the floor of the pit. Jack and the others stood at the edge and watched as the creatures slowly surrounded their prey. Both the spymaster and Krogan recovered from the fall and stood up as Wrex now fully enraged, charged at Soundwave. Throwing a punch which the former Con caught easily. The battle master grunted as Soundwave looked around them, causing Wrex to look too. They saw that the varren were circling them both, preparing to strike as they bared their fangs, drool dripping from their mouths and on to the floor.

"I suggest we work together to survive this." Soundwave said as Wrex looked back at him, thinking about it for a second before his eyes narrowed back. The former con then got his answer as Wrex punched him, knocking the spymaster onto the ground.

"Never." he spat as one varren launched itself at the Krogan who caught it in his hands. Its powerful jaws snapping at him as he held it away from his face. Wrex then growled and threw it into another varren that had gotten too close. Wrex then readied himself for another attack, as Soundwave recovered on the floor. The spymaster turned his head to the left to see a varren charging at him, fangs bared. The former con got up quickly as he narrowly missed becoming stuck in the creature's mouth as it lunged at him. The two of them found themselves back to back as the varren that had attacked them and failed rejoined the others and circled them once again. Both Soundwave and Wrex looked over their shoulders to each other. Wrex stared daggers at the former con, while the later just looked back at him coldly, but they both knew that they couldn't finish their spat while the varren were around. Then the animals attacked all at once and the two battled against the creatures.

Jack and the others watched in shock and awe as they saw the two below them combating the creatures together. Before long there was only two varren left, Soundwave and Wrex had knocked out the others and now it was one on one. Soundwave took a defensive stance as his varren charged at him and leapt. The spymaster stepped aside and grabbed one of its legs as it flew past. He then pulled causing it swing round and then let go, making it fly head first into the wall. He then turned to see that Wrex was on the floor with the last varren on top of him, attempting to bite the Krogan. But Wrex reached out to a rock that was on the floor next to him. He grabbed it and smacked the varren in the face, knocking it out. He then got up panting heavily, when he remembered his unfinished business and spun around to find Soundwave pointing his sonic blaster at him.

"I knew you couldn't fight fair, you Decepticons are all the same. That is why we Krogan are 'superior' to you." he spat at the spymaster who just stared at him.

"I could have used this weapon at any time, but I chose not to." Soundwave responded.

Wrex looked at him confused.

"What are you trying to prove?" he asked. Soundwave then lowered his weapon and his expression took on a calm tone.

"I never came here to fight. Like I was trying to say. I require your assistance to find someone who is hiding here on Tuchunka."

"Why, why would you need my help?" Wrex replied angrily.

The blank expression on the spymaster's face softened in front of the Krogan Leader.

"Because I believe that the person I am looking for, is the one responsible for the number of Krogan who have mysteriously gone missing in the last few months."

Wrex's eyes widened as he stared in shock at what he just heard.

"How do you know about that?"

Shockwave activated his holo-tool and gestured to the Krogan to look at the screen. Wrex growled slightly and clenched his fists as he reluctantly walked over and looked down at the former con's holo-tool.

"While I have been helping Jackson Prime against the Quintesson threat to humanity, I have also been trying to track a signal…." he said before being cut of by a third voice.

"Hey, how about you two get up here and let us in on the discussion..." Jack called down. Garrus stepped beside the Prime and smiled.

"...Or you can get back to the fight you nearly had." he joked, gaining a glare from Jack.

Once the two were out of the pit, Wrex had told his men to get back to work, gaining an disgruntled response from the Krogan, who had wanted to see their leader deal with the spymaster. Now Jack, Airachnid and Garrus stood with Soundwave and Wrex as the former con showed everyone the data on his holo-tool.

"After our fight with Frenzy on Omega..." he said sadly.

"...I went through the data that I retrieved from his neural net and discovered a very specific code. One that I did not recognise, not until I compared it to the data you had collected from Virmire and Horizon."

Jack gave him a knowing look.

"The code was of Reaper origin wasn't it."

Soundwave nodded and showed them the code on his holo-tool.

"I searched through every information network in the Council and Terminus systems until I found a match. That match is here on Tuchunka."

Wrex looked at him unconvinced.

"And why do you think this has anything to do those of my people who have gone missing."

Jack looked over at his Krogan friend, concern written on his face.

"You have people missing, fuck me Wrex. Why didn't you mention this before?" Jack asked, his patience starting to thin.

"We assumed that it was one of the clans that opposed Udnot. Because of the genophage there are still Krogan dying here on our world, and not enough newborns to take their place. So this has all become just part of our lives now." Wrex replied looking down at the floor in shame. He then looked up to see that Soundwave was looking away guiltily. He was going to say something but then saw Jack glaring back at him, so decided against it. Jack then looked to the spymaster.

"So you believe that whoever had Frenzy brainwashed….." as he said that he noticed Airachnid flinch at his comment, trying to hide the discomfort it gave her.

"…is also abducting Krogan, for what purpose?"

Soundwave just shook his head in response. Jack then thought for a moment while everyone looked at him.

"The last time anyone abducted Krogan was back on Virmire." the Prime said.

"But that was Saren, and he is dead now…..right?" Garrus replied, a little unsure for a second. Jack gave him a slight grin.

"Yes, he is dead. I doubt he could survive without his head, but there was someone working with him, who is not dead."

Garrus eyes widened a little as he remembered.

"Sideways!" he exclaimed, gaining a nod from Jack while Soundwave and Airachnid looked at them surprised.

"Sideways, I thought he died during the war?" the femme asked. Soundwave shook his head in response as Jack looked over to her.

"No he didn't, we found out he was working with Saren, a rogue Spectre who was trying to assist the Reaper named Sovereign bring the rest of the Reapers into our galaxy to purge it of all organic life." the Prime replied. Soundwave then turned to Wrex.

"Will you work with me to stop Sideways or whoever it is that has been abducting your people?"

Wrex looked at him, thinking it over.

"Alright, but don't think that this one deed will exonerate you of the part you played in my people's agony for the last several hundred years."

Soundwave merely nodded in return and the two started going over the details on the spymaster's holo-tool, leaving the others somewhat surprised. Because only a few short minutes ago, Wrex was trying to kill Soundwave. But now they were working together.. though reluctantly. Jack though had a small smile growing on his face, Airachnid noticed this and looked at Jack, slightly confused.

"What are you smiling about?"

Jack looked at her.

"I just have a feeling that everything will be alright." he said confidently. She just cocked her head and smiled back.

"Well aren't you optimistic, its kind of cute." she replied with a smile. Jack looked back at her and blushed slightly.

"Thanks." he replied as the two of them and Garrus joined Soundwave and Wrex.

**PRIME EFFECT 2**

Four the last couple of hours, the group had used shuttle one to investigate a number of the locations where Krogan had gone missing, Soundwave had examined each area for clues before setting off towards the next site. After the fourth landing, he finally believed he had enough data to triangulate the location from where all these abductions originated from and they were heading there now.

"we are approaching the destination Prime." the pilot called back as the Jack and the others sat in silence.

"Set us down just outside the area, we don't want…" the Prime was cut off by Soundwave who showed him a scan of the area on his holo-tool that showed no patrols.

"How did you get that?" Wrex asked suspiciously. Soundwave looked over to him, his expression unreadable.

"I merely linked my holo-tool to one of the Krogan satellites in orbit and ran a scan of the area..." he said stoically.

"...I was the Decepticon's head of intelligence."

Wrex looked away unimpressed. Jack turned to the Krogan.

"By the way Wrex, I had some trouble getting through the front door to see you earlier, one Krogan tried to stop me and I had to break his arm." the Prime said in a matter of fact like tone, gaining a chuckle from Airachnid who remembered it fondly.

"That must have been Grunt, the kid means well and is a Krogan to the core. But he is still very much a whelp." Wrex chuckled. Jack looked back at the pilot.

"Drop us off where Soundwave says." he ordered as Soundwave got up and walked up to the pilot and gave him the coordinates.

The Shuttle landed in the middle of an area surrounded by ruins and large piles of rubble as the wind picked up, blowing the dust around and making it hard to see as the group exited the shuttle and made their way to the large building that Soundwave's evidence had pointed to. Jack took point and equipped his mattock rifle as the others readied their own weapons, before entering the building. It looked abandoned as the first few rooms they searched were completely empty but then they turned a corner, they found the first sign that something was up. A large metal door blocked their path and looked far to new and advanced to have been there originally. Soundwave looked at Jack who nodded back and the spymaster used his holo-tool to hack the door. It then opened up slowly and everyone froze in place as they looked on at the horror that the door was hiding. What they saw was scores of berths with Krogan corpses lying upon them. The group entered the room as Wrex ran up to one of the beds, only to find that the body there was already dead. It had its torso opened up and all its organs removed.

Soundwave scanned the room with his holo-tool. As the others looked at the bodies, each one was missing something. Either a head, or its limbs or organs, it was a horrific sight. The floor was covered in large blood stains that stunk up the place. Jack looked over to Wrex who's eyes were narrowing as his anger was building up.

"Everyone of these Krogan are dead." the spymaster said in a sympathetic tone. Jack noticed that Soundwave's face looked disturbed and in pain at what he saw.

' _Does he regret what the Decepticons did to the Krogan?_ ' Jack thought to himself as Wrex had noticed this too and due to his building rage, decided to get in the former con's face about it.

"it's a little late to be feeling guilty now Con." he spat, gaining a glare from Soundwave who for the first time since Jack had seen him, looked angry.

"I am not a Decepticon anymore, if you hadn't noticed the war has been over for a long time now. We lost."

Wrex chuckled at the comment.

"Yeah I know, we all cheered and laughed at your expense..." he retorted as Soundwave clenched his hands into fists.

"...But your not going to make me believe that you suddenly feel something for all pain you caused us." Wrex finished.

"I was a loyal soldier to Megatron, and did everything that he ordered. But not once did I ever have to witness the results up close."

Wrex growled at the comment.

"So you think that, because you have now seen exactly what your war did to my planet that you have the right to feel sorry." he spat back.

"No, nothing I say or do will make up for the centuries of pain we caused you. All I can do now is try to help people in any way I can." Soundwave replied, his voice full of emotion. Jack stood between the two and looked at them both stoically.

"Why don't we save this until after we have completed this mission." he then looked at Wrex.

"Save your anger for the one responsible for all of this." the Prime said as he gestured to the bodies around them, causing Wrex to nod back quietly. The Prime then turned to Soundwave.

"Which way?" he said calmly. The former con pointed to the door at the far end of the room and the team walked up to it and opened the door to see two beings talking to each other in the room. Both Wrex and Jack's eyes widened as they recognised them. One was Uvenk, the Krogan clan leader Jack saw with Wrex earlier. The other was the former Con that Arcee had killed but his body had disappeared moments later on Ilos, Sideways. The two were talking as the group entered the room. They took cover instantly before the two figures had a chance to spot them. Wrex growled lowly at the sight of one of his own affiliating with a piece of filth like Sideways.

"I'm gonna kill that traitorous pyjak." he whispered as Jack grabbed his shoulder, making the Krogan look at him.

"Wrex, you can put him through as much pain as you want, but first we need to find out why they are here." He whispered back stoically.

Wrex nodded as a slight smile appeared on his face.

"Okay Jack, but he is mine and mine alone." he replied as he looked at the others who all nodded in agreement, they all he looked at the two talking in front of them.

"So you have enough of my people now to complete your work and make us strong again?" Uvenk asked while looking at one of the blue holo-screens. Sideways turned to him, a dark smile on his face.

"Oh yes, thanks to your fine work. I have enough members of your race here to ensure that my work is a success and rest assured, it will make your race strong again."

Uvenk nodded as he his attention shifted towards the large metal door that took up the centre of the back wall.

"So what do you have behind this wall that requires a reinforced cybertitanium door?" He asked, as his curiosity got the better of him. Sideways expression turned serious as he stepped between the Krogan and the door.

"It's just a little side project of mine that in no way involves you."

Uvenk felt a tinge of hurt at the comment. If it hadn't been for his help in setting up the facility and gaining the test subjects for Sideways, then all that he was about to gain would not have happened. So he was going to remind his partner of this.

"Sideways, do I have to remind you that..." he was suddenly cut off by the feel of vibrations directly behind his head. So he turned to see a human-like man in purple armour standing behind him, vibrations emanating from his open hand. Sideways smile reappeared as he relaxed his posture.

"You must forgive Rumble, he doesn't like it when my business partners attempt to talk back at me."

Uvenk shook his head as he looked between the two of them.

"No that's not what I was doing, I was merely.."

Sideways slammed his fist down on the piece of machinery next to him, leaving a deep impression in the spot he hit, making the Krogan wince. He then looked at Uvenk, his eyes looking very stoic. But the Krogan could see a rage building below the surface.

"Uvenk, I grow tired of your constant prattle, you should remember that I can get the help of any of your people should I wish it."

He then pointed at the screen to his left. Uvenk looked at it nervously as he felt he presence of Rumble behind him. On the screen was a formula and images of two DNA strands. One said genophage infected the other said clean. His eyes widened in awe of what he saw.

"You have the cure!" he exclaimed. Sideways smiled darkly.

"I told you I would deliver, and not only will it cure the disease that has inflicted so much pain and death upon your people, but it will also make you stronger.

From their position behind cover, Jack, Garrus and Wrex all gave each other knowing looks as it dawned on them what the cure was.

_'the Reaper infected cure from the Virmire facility.'_  Jack thought to himself as the looked back out to the two figures talking.

"Now the cure can be yours so that you can make your clan strong and dominate the others with ease, ensuring that you lead your people and not clan Urdnot. But if you try at all to break our arrangement, then I am sure that one of the other clans will be just as willing to work with me."

Uvenk shook his head as he realised what he could lose.

"Okay, you have made your point. I will obey."

Sideways though just looked at him uninterested as he walked past him and stopped, looking out at the machinery on the other side of the room.

"Unfortunately, I think we will have to terminate you for having been followed here." the Con said as he pointed in Jack's direction, turning to face them.

"You might as well show yourselves." he said out loud, a confident smile on his face. Then Jack and the others stood up, weapons trained on the three of them. Sideways smile disappeared at the sight of the Prime.

"Well….what a pleasant surprise Prime, your looking good for a dead man."

Jack tightened his grip on the trigger as he stared at the former con.

"Wish I could say the same Sideways. How are you even standing here?"

Sideways smile returned as he pointed to his chest.

"Oh you mean after that femme bitch of your's shot me in the spark chamber. Well lets just say that I have friends in high places." he answered cryptically.

"You mean the Reapers." Jack concluded, trying to keep a lid on the anger he felt for what Sideways had just called Arcee, this made his enemy's smile grow larger as he remained silent. He then looked at Uvenk.

"You want to redeem yourself, then kill the intruders."

The Krogan looked at Wrex as the other growled lowly and his eyes narrowed at the traitor. Sideways then turned to Rumble.

"Attack and be sure to make a mess." he said, gaining a nod from the mini con who then raised his hands at Jack's group, his hands started to shake as he fired vibration waves in their direction, making them dive out of the way as the ground and machines around them shook and exploded. Sideways started to walk away as Uvenk equipped his shotgun and charged at Wrex who was recovering. But as the former con headed for the exit, Jack jumped at him with the star-saber, bringing it down on Sideways who pulled out his katana to block the attack. Their blades clashed causing a bright purple light to emit from the katana. Jack's eyes widened before Sideways pushed him back, gaining some distance between the two. He then raised the sword, it was glowing a very distinctive purple.

"Recognise this?" he said with a dark grin.

"Megatron's Dark Star-saber!" Jack exclaimed in disbelief. Sideways took a casual pose in front of the Prime, like he didn't take Jack seriously as a threat.

"I prefer Dark Saber, a shorter and much more threatening name. Don't you think?" he replied as Jack took a stance and raised the Star-saber, Sideways copying as the two stood there before charging at each other and clashing their blades together once more. Meanwhile Garrus, Airachnid and Soundwave were firing at Rumble, the spymaster more reluctant than the others as the mini con jumped between the group and punched his fist to the ground, producing a small earthquake around them. The three of them lost their footing and fell to the ground as Rumble rose back up.

"Get ready to die, thanks to Rumble." He said victoriously as he raised his hand at Airachnid and prepared to fire vibration waves directly at her, but then Soundwave recovered and tackled the mini con to the ground and pinned him there. Meanwhile both Krogan were beating the crap out of each other as Wrex got the upper hand by landing another blow on Uvenk.

"Why, Why the hell did you side with that Decepticon scum?" he screamed as he punched the traitor in the chest, making him fall to his knees as blood was seeping from cuts on his face.

"After what he did to our people on Virmire, how could you?" he shouted as he hit Uvenk again, knocking him to the floor. The traitor tried to recover, but was knocked down by the Urdnot leader stamping his foot onto Uvenk's back and forcing him down to the floor. Wrex then equipped his shotgun and aimed it at the traitor's head.

"Answer me!" he shouted. Uvenk coughed up some blood before looking up at the victor.

"Because Con or not, He promised me that I would lead our people to our true destiny."

Wrex felt his rage almost burst out as he applied more pressure to Uvenk's back.

"No, you would just lead them into the hands of the Reapers, and for that you must die."

Wrex then pulled the trigger, exploding the traitor's head. It's insides splattering across the ground. He then looked up to Jack and Sideways in the middle of a sword fight and the others with Rumble. Jack noticed Wrex while clashing blades with his adversary.

"Wrex, help the others. I've got this." he called back, gaining a nod from the Krogan who charged down to the other fight. Sideways smirked as the two fought.

"You really should have called for his help Prime." he said as Jack pushed him back before swinging the star-saber at his Dark saber again.

"I think that I can handle you by myself." the Prime replied, only making Sideways chuckle in response.

"I don't think so." he answered as he jumped and spin kicked the Prime in the face, knocking him to the ground. As Jack recovered Sideways sheathed his blade and gloated.

"Until next time Jack." he spat as he turned and ran down the corridor towards the exit. Jack picked himself up and looked over to the others while Soundwave had Rumble pinned. Airachnid looked up at Jack.

"Go get him, we've got this Jack."

The Prime nodded and bolted after Sideways, as Soundwave tried to interface with Rumble's mind using the tentacles that grew out of his fingers.

"Oh no you don't." Rumble spat as he grabbed the Spymaster's arm and sent vibrations through his arm, making his former friend scream in pain. Rumble then kicked Soundwave off of him and got up before sending more vibration waves through the ground towards Garrus and Airachnid, making them dive away yet again.

Jack ran down the corridor trying to catch up with Sideways, when he turned a corner he could see daylight up ahead and what appears to be a ship. As he got closer he could see Sideways standing there with an object in his hand. The former con pressed down hard on the device, causing Jack to stop when he heard a loud beeping around him. He looked on the walls and ceiling to see charges primed to explode.

' _Shit!'_  he thought as he doubled back just in time to evade the charges exploding and bring a couple hundred tonnes of concrete down, sealing off the tunnel. Sideways smiled as he turned and entered the ship, it taking off and flying up and out of the planet's atmosphere soon after. Jack picked himself up as he coughed out the dust that the collapsed concrete had brought up, as he then turned round and doubled back. Knowing that his friends would need his help.

Rumble had Garrus and Airachnid beaten as they lay on the floor, he raised his hand and fired vibration waves directly onto them, making them cry out as immense pain ripped through their bodies. He then caught in the corner of his eye, Wrex charging toward him. So he raised his other hand and fired at the Krogan, making him fall to his knees as the same pain ripped through his own. Rumble smiled as he started to kill them with the vibrations. Soundwave recovered to see his former mini con slowly killing his friends…yes his friends. He couldn't let this happen, so he picked up a piece of broken piping that one of Rumble's attacks had broken off and impaled him through the chest. The mini con screamed as he stopped his attacks and grabbed at the pipe that was sticking out of him, liquid flowing from the wound. He fell to the ground, only to have Soundwave catch him in his arms.

Rumble looked up at him and Soundwave saw his expression change from hate to the youthful friend that he remembered.

"Sound…wave, is….that you?" Rumble asked as Airachnid and the others recovered and stood around the two just as Jack ran back into the room.

"Yes Rumble, it's me." the Spymaster replied, his voice full of emotion.

The mini con managed a small smile in response despite the pain he was in, but then his face saddened as he remembered what he did.

"I am so sorry, I could not control myself. Sideways, he…." he said before Soundwave cut him off.

"It wasn't your fault, the most important thing now is that you are free of it."

Jack looked over to Airachnid who he could se was being effected by the conversation, obviously bringing back painful memories. So he walked over to her and put his arm around her, gaining a sad smile from her as a silent thank you, before they both looked back at the spymaster and his friend.

"Soundwave, you have to enter the room" he said pointing toward the large door at the back. The spymaster looked at the door and then back, confused.

"Why?"

Rumble coughed up some fluid as he fought through the pain he felt in his chest.

"Because Sideways has created something, something that can turn Cybertronians against each other."

Soundwave shook his head in response.

"No, I have to get you to our medical bay and repair you. Because with Laserbeak and Frenzy now one with the Allspark. You and Ravage are the only family I have left." he replied as he felt his eyes well up. Rumble though stared back at him stoically.

"No, there is no time, I am already as good as dead. But if that thing gets out, it will spell the end for all Cybertronians."

Soundwave looked down at Rumble and saw his strong conviction and had no answer to it. So he reluctantly nodded in agreement. Rumble smiled in response.

"Don't worry boss bot, we will….meet again when….you…..rejoin the All….spark."

Rumble's eyes then glazed over and his body went limp in Soundwave's arms, making the spymaster weep for his fallen friend. Jack walked over to the former con and placed his hand on his shoulder in support.

"I am very sorry Soundwave, but we should respect his wishes and take care of what ever experiment that Sideways has left in there." he said in a sympathetic yet stoic manner. Soundwave placed Rumble's body onto the ground gently, before standing up and wiping the tears off his face. He then looked back at Jack, his face back to it's emotionless state and nodded.

**PRIME EFFECT 2**

The team then walked over to the large metal door, readying their weapons as Soundwave hacked the door controls with his holo-tool. The door then slowly opened revealing an larger room, but in its center was a large tank filled with a strange liquid. As the team moved closer, they could see a large figure inside the tank.

Wrex and Garrus took a close look at the figure and noticed some horrifying similarities.

"Ugh, is it me, or does that thing have a Turian head." Garrus said, while Wrex looked at the body.

"It looks like it has been made up from the body parts of my people."

Jack took a scan of it with his holo-tool.

"It's definitely made up of multiple krogan. And it has a Turain head, but the insides of this abomination are all synthetic, not unlike the husks."

Garrus had to look away from the figure, and saw something just as horrifying.

"I found the body that the head belonged to." he said while pointing over to the body sprawled out on the floor, it's head missing.

"Well we have to destroy this thing either way." Jack said, trying to keep everyone's attention on their mission. Airachnid got closer to the tank, looking for a weak spot.

"maybe we can set charges and blow this thing up. I still don't see how this thing will spell doom for our race." she questioned. But suddenly the creature's eyes lit up and it looked up at the people outside of the tank. Everyone tensed up and aimed their weapons at it, as it started to move around the tank. It's eyes then fell onto Soundwave and Airachnid and suddenly the two former cons could hear a ringing in their minds, as it got louder and more painful. Jack and the others looked on in shock as both the femme and the spymaster held their heads in their hands as they both screamed in pain. Jack got up close to Airachnid to try and help her but suddenly she stopped, as did Soundwave. She looked at Jack before an expression appeared on her face, a look Jack remembered from years back as an evil smile grew on her face.

"Airachnid, its me Jack. You remember me right?" he asked in a gentle tone. But her answer was to hit the Prime squarely in the face as Soundwave attacked Garrus and Wrex, knocking them both down. Jack tried to recover but Airachnid jpounces on him and tries to stab her escrima stick into his face as he grabs the end of it and holds it off.

"Guys could use a hand here." he shouts while struggling to keep the femme from killing him. Wrex recovers immediately and tackles the femme off of the Prime while Soundwave picks on Garrus. Jack gets up just in time to see the creature break out of the tank and charge at him. The Prime rolls out of his way and equips the star-saber, slicing a chunk of flesh off of the creature as it runs past. He then looks back to his friends.

"Keep those two busy while I take care of this. And don't kill them, they are under a temporary indoctrination I think." he says before jumping out of the way of the creature's following attack.

Garrus though is having no luck as Soundwave beats the hell out of him. He looks over to Wrex who seems to be having an easier time with Airachnid.

"Hey, I thought you and he had thing going. How about we trade dance partners?"

Wrex grabbed Airachnid by the face and threw her to the ground before chuckling at the sight of Garrus getting hit repeatedly.

"Okay, you little pyjak, lets swap." he replied before charging into the spymaster, giving the Turian a breather for a second as Airachnid looked at him with an evil glee.

"Oh great!" he said out loud.

Jack meanwhile was taking swipes at the brute with his blade, but then it hit him with a back hander, knocking him across the ground. He picked himself up and spat out a little blood that was building up in his mouth from the hit.

' _Right then, time to end you!_ ' he thought as the brute prepared to charge at him. Jack held the star-saber over his head and concentrated on it, making the blade glow brighter and brighter. The Brute then charged at him as Jack swung the blade down, unleashing a energy wave that ripped through the ground as it closed in on the charging creature. Then in the blink of an eye the wave passed right through it, making the beast stop in its tracks. Jack collapsed to his knees from the exhaustion that using the saber that caused, but he looked up to see the brute look at him confused right before a line appeared on its face and then spread up and down its body.

Finally the beast then split in two pieces that fell away from each other as it's insides plopped on the floor in the middle. Jack then looked over to see both Airachnid and Soundwave stop fighting the others as the two looked around each other confused for a moment. Then the femme's purple eyes saw Jack and he instantly saw a change in her expression as tears started to fall from her eyes as she remembered what she nearly did. Jack went over to her and put his arms around her, embracing the femme as she cried into his neck.

"I am so sorry Jack, I had no control. I could only watch." she cried as Jack tried to calm her down.

" It was not your fault, We couldn't have known what would happen when that beast woke up." he replied as she lifted her head up and looked him in the eyes, the others watching the two of them curiously.

"But I nearly…" she sobbed as the tears continued to flow.

"…I couldn't go through that again, losing someone I care about because I was…" she stopped as she realised what she had just said and looked at Jack, who tried to hide the surprise he felt from hearing her admission with a look of understanding and failing a little. She stepped back from him embarrassed but he then placed a comforting hand on her shoulder.

"Neither you nor Soundwave should feel guilty about what happened. This was not your doing, it was Sideways. Always remember that." he said to both of them before looking back to the femme in front of him. Airachnid noticed out of the corner of her eye that while Jack was holding her shoulder, he was also subtly stroking it with his thumb in a sign of affection. This action warmed her spark as she let a smile grace her lips.

"Your right Jack." she replied as she calmed down. Jack then turned away from her and walked up to the brute's corpse.

"Rumble was right about this abomination, this brute. If we hadn't stopped it, who knows how many Cybertronians it could have indoctrinated. But it's dead, another one of Sideways schemes for the Reapers stopped. And we didn't lose a single team member doing it." he said as he remembered Miko, Kaidan and Wheeljack. Garrus stood beside Jack, he had a feeling he knew what the Prime was thinking.

"I know they would be proud Jack." he said gently, gaining a smile from the Human.

"I know." the Prime replied, he then sighed as he turned to the team.

"Well, lets download whatever information we can salvage from the computers here before we go."

The others nodded as Soundwave walked up to the Brute's corpse and started probing its split in half brain with his finger tentacles, gaining a shocked look from Garrus,

"Soundwave, why? I am standing right here." he asked with embarrassment and disgust in his voice.

Once they were done, the group were standing outside the building with the shuttle landing behind them as they said their goodbyes to Wrex. Airachnid boarded first as Soundwave and Wrex looked at each other for a moment, a look of reluctant understanding from the Krogan as he nodded. The spymaster nodded in kind and entered the shuttle leaving just Jack and Garrus. The Turian then shook the Krogan leader's hand.

"It was good to see you again Wrex, nice to know sitting on your throne hasn't dulled you reflexes and senses."

Wrex gave him a knowing grin.

"Careful Garrus, or do you want to be reminded how you got your ass handed back to you by a femme."

Garrus's face went pale for a sec before he chuckled, slightly embarrassed.

"Funny Wrex, until next time."

Garrus then entered the shuttle. The Krogan then looked at Jack.

"Well I don't know where you found her, but that Airachnid sure is a good fighter. Though I have to say, I was hoping to see Arcee with you."

Jack looked down to the ground at the mention of her name, as he sighed not wanting his friend to see the pain he felt.

"Yeah, well she feels that she cant trust me anymore." he answered honestly. Wrex saw this and patted Jack on the arm.

"Hey, she'll come round." he said trying to cheer the Prime up. Jack though knew how stubborn Arcee could be and knew the chances were remote to say the least.

"And if not, send her to me and I'll straighten her out." the Krogan said with a grin. Jack though looked back at him surprised.

"Really, do you handle your own females like that?"

Wrex suddenly looked a little nervous as he looked around them before looking back at Jack,

"Well don't tell anyone this but it is the other way round."

Jack chuckled at the comment and the picture that had just formed in his mind. He then looked back at the shuttle.

"You sure we can't give you a lift back to your base?" he asked.

"Thanks but I already called for help. It should be here soon, we have a lot of bodies in there to bury."

Jack looked at him, guilt forming in his mind.

"I am sorry we couldn't save any of them Wrex." he replied sheepishly.

"Don't go blaming yourself Jack, especially after the speech you gave the others only thirty minutes ago. Blame Sideways, I do."

Jack nodded in return.

"I will, thanks Wrex." he then looked at the landscape before looking back at the Krogan,

"You know, you could always join us on the Defiant."

Wrex smiled as he thought about it.

"Its tempting Jack, it was a lot of fun fighting beside you again. It made me think about the old days. But I have responsibilities now, I can't walk away from them you understand." he replied.

"Yes I know what you mean. Well I should be going, see you round Wrex." Jack said as they both shook hands before Jack entered the shuttle.

"You too Jack." Wrex replied as Jack smiled back at him before the hatch closed and the shuttle took off into the cloud covered sky above.

**PRIME EFFECT 2**

At the far end of the system, Sideways ship was heading toward the local space bridge. The former con was sitting in the cockpit, the only light in there was emanating from the red holo-screens and controls. He then shivered as he felt another presence in the room with him, making the hairs on the back of his neck stand on edge.

"Yes, it was successful…..it took complete control of them." he stated out loud, though there was no one physically in the room with him. He expression faulted a second later.

"No, I lost the Prototype, that damned Prime interfered…." he was cut off by his face been flipped to the right as if he had been hit hard, and then again from the opposite side. He grimaced in pain as he shivered in his chair.

"Please…..I will make it right…I swear." he grovelled as he was hit again, knocking his head up. Then as he recovered he looked straight ahead like he was listening to some one, he then sighed heavily.

"Thank you….I will see that it is done…..master." he replied. Then his shivering stopped as he felt the presence fade away and he was once again alone in the cockpit, he then took control of the ship and piloted it into the swirling vortex of the space bridge.


	9. Chapter 9

 

Soundwave was standing alone in his lab. He was going through the data he had gathered from the Brute's brain cells as well as what information the others had downloaded from Sideways computers, trying to keep his mind busy. Not wanting to think about what had transpired back on Tuchunka. When he had entered the lab, he found that Ravage, the only mini con he had left was not there. Soundwave should of realised that the feline mini con would have wondered off, he never did like being stuck in one place to long.

But the spymaster was actually relieved that he was not there at that moment, or else Ravage would remind him of what he had just lost. So he looked back at the screen and kept working. As he shifted through the data, he could not help but feel a certain amount of respect for Sideways. Well from a scientific view anyway.

He had certainly become as competent as Shockwave with the ability to reprogram the Cybertronian mind, but as Soundwave dug deeper into the code, he saw trace elements that he could not understand. Now matter how he looked at it or from what angle he took. The trace elements in the code were a complete mystery. He was so engrossed in his research that he did not notice the lab door open and Jack walking in with Ravage at his side.

"Soundwave. I found this guy down on the crew deck, he had his head in whatever chef was cooking for the crew today."

Soundwave kept looking at the screen.

"So he fed himself while I was away." the spymaster replied. Jack patted Ravage on the head as the feline replied by brushing his head against Jack's leg before going over to Soundwave who patted him in return.

"Yeah, let's just say Chef wasn't too pleased." Jack replied before looking at what the former con was working on.

"So what have you found?"

Soundwave stepped aside and activated the larger screen behind the one he was using.

"Well it seems that Sideways has been integrating the reprogramming techniques that Shockwave used to such devastating effect during the war with Reaper code, allowing him to indoctrinate any Cybertronian he comes in contact with."

Jack looked over the data before looking back at the spymaster, slightly confused.

"But I thought that indoctrination was for organics only. That Cybertronains couldn't be taken over like that."

Soundwave then pointed at the alien trace elements inside the code.

"These trace elements of data inside the base code is so advanced and alien to me that I can't make heads or tails of it."

Jack looked at the image of the code with the alien traces in it.

"This isn't Reaper code?"

Soundwave shook his head.

"The Reaper fragments are mixed into the fragments from Shockwave. Those new fragments don't match either though." the spymaster replied.

"So if it's not their code, then whose is it?" the Prime asked.

"I do not know, but I intend to find out." Soundwave responded, gaining a smile from the Prime.

"Its good to have you on the team, Soundwave." he responded as he patted the former con's arm. He then turned to leave.

"Prime…Jack, thank you for taking the time to help me on Tuchunka" Soundwave said, making Jack look back.

"I just wish that we could have saved Rumble." he finished as he looked down at the ground in shame.

"That was unfortunate." Jack replied as he knew Soundwave's pain. The former con looked at Jack and knew the Prime understood his loss.

"Yes, it was. But I know Rumble and Frenzy would want me to carry on and put a stop to Sideways and then the Reapers. Your fight has now become my fight Jack. And should we both survive the coming battle with the Quintessons, then you can count on me whenever you need me Jack." he said as he held out his hand to Jack who took the hand in his own and shook.

"Thank you Soundwave, I am glad you said that because.." he said as he reached into his trouser pocket.

"I think you going to need this."

Jack took something out of his pocket and placed in it the former con's hand. Soundwave looked down at the object in his hands, it was an Autobot insignia. He looked up a Jack in surprise as he then looked back down at the insignia.

"I accept. After serving under Megatron, a Cybertronian who earned loyalty by using fear and intimidation, working with you during this mission has been an eye opener. You see I never faced the wrath of Megatron, due to the fact that I never really failed at any task that he gave me, but others were not as fortunate. But I did know that he would happily sacrifice all of his troops, myself included if it meant that he got what he was after..." Soundwave replied as he looked back at the Prime.

"...But you Jack, you care for those who serve under you. You even treat them as equals….as friends. Apart from my mini cons, who I considered as my family. I never had a real friend. Not until I met you again. I know that during the war, we were enemies. But you went out of your way to help me and I really appreciate that. I hope that one day I can repay you."

Jack smiled back though a little embarrassed, not that he showed it in his expression.

"Don't worry about it Soundwave, its just what friends do for each other." The Prime then turned to leave, before looking back at the spymaster.

"There is just one more person I have to see." he said as he held another insignia in his hand. Soundwave saw it and smiled.

"Airachnid."

Jack nodded at the comment.

"You know, I knew that Shockwave had reprogrammed her. But I didn't realized that her original personality was still in there and aware of the everything that she did. It's horrifying to think about." Soundwave said.

"She has been through a lot and none of it was her fault..." Jack replied, he then gave the spymaster a knowing look.

"...But I believe that everyone deserves a second chance."

Soundwave smiled and nodded back as he understood exactly what Jack meant, he then placed the insignia onto the chest plate of his armour. It glowed bright red for a moment before locking into place.

"Thank you Jack." he said proudly before turning back to his console. Jack smiled back before leaving the lab.

**PRIME EFFECT 2**

Jack had looked everywhere for Airachnid, he had tried her room on the lowest level, the common room, he even interrupted Garrus's calibrations to see if he knew where she was. But he had no luck. He then walked through the corridors when he came up to the portside observation room, and he thought he might as well have a look so he opened the door and there sitting on the couch was the femme as she looked out at the star field. Jack smiled at how relaxed she looked, considering everything she had been through and suffered. She looked over to him and affectionate smile graced her lips.

"Jack, hi." she said, her purple eyes looking directly at him. The way she looked at him suddenly made Jack blush. It had been along time since a female had looked at him like that.

"..Hi Airachnid." he managed to say, which gained a chuckle from the femme. She then patted the spot next to her and Jack sat down beside her. As he sat next to her, Jack wondered why he felt exited to be near her, he had thought that Arcee would have been the only one to gain such a reaction from him, but here now beside him was someone, who before he had died and came back, would never had considered to be anything other than a sadistic killer.

But having gotten to know the real her, he felt himself slowly becoming attracted to her, she reminded him of Arcee in more ways than one and he had felt lonely since his lover had left him. But now, another femme was showing him such attention and he found that he wanted it. He was so caught up in his own thoughts, that suddenly he felt something hit his shoulder. He blinked and looked at Airachnid who had just hit his arm gently to get his attention.

"Jack, everything okay?" she asked in a concerned manner. Jack smiled back at her and shook his head.

"No, I fine. I as just thinking for a moment." he replied.

"Anything you want to talk about?" she asked somewhat curiously.

"No, actually I came here to give you something." he replied honestly. Airachnid was taken aback by Jack's comment, surprise on her face was evident.

"what…what is it?" she asked as Jack handed her the object. She looked down at the Autobot insignia that was lying in her hand. She stared at it for what seemed like ages, before she looked back at Jack, her eyes wide open.

"I don't know what to say Jack." she said, still taking in what had just happened.

"You don't need to say anything, you deserve to have this back." he said as he watched her smile down at the insignia before looking at the Prime.

"Thank you Jack, I am honoured to be a part of the Autobots again."

The Prime smiled and nodded back.

"I know Esmeral would be proud of you." he replied gaining a smile from the femme before she looked away for a moment to the star field and remembered her lost spark mate.

"Yes she would." she replied before Jack notice her smile wane a little.

"You miss her a lot don't you?" he asked in soft tone. She looked back to him and nodded gently.

"Yes, not a moment goes by when I don't think of her. If I didn't have you here to help me through this, I don't know how I would have turned out." she responded.

"You are stronger than you give yourself credit for Airachnid." he said as he placed a comforting hand on her shoulder. She smiled back at the gesture.

"Thank you Jack.." she then looked away and then back at the Prime.

"..May I ask how you are doing?" she asked.

Jack looked at her curiously.

"Me, I am fine." he lied, hoping that would deflect her curiosity, but the femme just stared at him intently.

"Jack please, it takes one to know one. How are you doing really?"

Jack sighed as he looked out at the stars.

"I miss her, it hasn't been easy doing this without her." he confessed as Airachnid moved closer to him and placed her hand on his leg sympathetically.

"I could tell, its funny how much we rely on the ones we love and so when they are no longer around, we feel so helpless." she replied.

Jack nodded as he looked back at her.

"All I know is that if you…" before he could finish the sentence, the door opened and Miranda walked in.

"Jack we have received the coordinates for the IFF from my father." she said before looking at the two sitting on the couch.

"Am I interrupting something?" she asked as Jack and Airachnid looked over to her, before looking at each other.

"No, if you need Jack then he's all yours." Airachnid replied, as Jack looked back at her. She just smiled at him.

"They need you right now..." she said to him as she placed her hand on his affectionately.

"...We can talk more later."

Jack nodded back and smiled at her before he got up and left the room with Miranda, leaving the femme to look back out to the star field.

Jack and Miranda entered the elevator and stood side by side as the doors closed.

"So where has Silas found an IFF then?" he asked.

"Apparently, MECH has found a dead Reaper in orbit around the star in the Thorne system. He sent a science team to investigate it but has now lost contact with the team." she replied as the elevator moved up to the CIC deck. The two then entered the CIC where Miranda brought up the Reaper's position on the galaxy map.

"I have already given the coordinates to Hotrod and he already set us on our way. I have also picked your team, they are waiting for you down in the airlock."

Jack looked at the map before turning to the MECH Officer.

"looks like you have thought of everything." he replied with a smile, making Miranda blush slightly.

"Well, that's why I 'm here." she said a little embarrassed as she raked her hand through her hair gently. Jack's expression then turned serious as it dawned on him.

"Wait, they lost contact with the science team. That doesn't sound ominous does it?" he asked with a hint of worry in his voice.

"It does seem strange, but my father said in the transmission that he gave us all the information he had on the situation." she replied, earning an unsure look from the Prime.

"You sure about that?"

She looked away for second, not wanting him to see her doubts, but then she looked back at him.

"Yeah, I have my doubts too, ever since the Quintesson cruiser. But we need that IFF."

Jack nodded in agreement, as he pulled out the Prime Armour octagonal disc from his trouser pocket.

"So how long until we get there?"

Miranda pointed at the galaxy map, their position popped up only a few light years away from the target destination.

"It's not far, we wont need to use a space bridge to get there, Hotrod says we should be there in another thirty or so minutes."

Jack then placed the disc on his chest, the Prime Armour forming around his body.

"Well best get ready then." he replied as he started for the airlock next to the cockpit.

"Good luck Jack." Miranda said, gaining a smile from the Prime as he walked away.

**PRIME EFFECT 2**

The Defiant jumped out of hyperspace and flew towards the system's star, which shown brightly against the black back-drop of space. As the ship got closer, the corpse of the Reaper could be seen, still making a menacing presence despite it's lifelessness. In the airlock, Jack, Garrus and Zaeed were standing ready when suddenly the ship shook for a moment. When it passed Jack tapped his com link.

"Hotrod report, what was that?"

"It seems that we have just entered the Reaper's gravitational field that it is still emitting." the pilot replied.

"It would appear that this field is what is keeping the Reaper from being pulled into the star, also our shield strength has started to increase since we entered the field. It would seem that the field also keeps the Reaper from gaining damage to its hull from the star's radiation." Teletran interrupted.

"Prime, I just run a scan and it appears that two ships are docked with the Reaper, one is Quarian and the other is Geth." Hotrod said over the com.

"Well, now we have a better idea of what happened to the science team, but why would there be a Quarian ship here?" Jack asked.

"Not sure Prime, but I am docking the Defiant with the Reaper now, good hunting."

The com link deactivated as Jack and his team readied their weapons.

The Defiant docked with the Reaper and the airlock opened to reveal a man-made habitat filled with computer screens and equipment. Jack and the team entered the room and looked around. Garrus walked around one of the tables and stopped in his tracks.

"Hey guys, we have a body over here." he said in a tense tone.

Jack and Zaeed joined the Turian as he looked down the human body, its skin was severely burned as it lied in a dried up poodle of its own blood.

"Damn, that is a horrible way to go." Zaeed said as Jack took a scan of the corpse with his holo-tool.

"No way that the Geth did this." he replied, earning a worried look from Garrus.

"So whatever killed this poor guy is probably still here, lurking around. Nice!" he replied in a sarcastic tone.

Jack turned around and found a console, activating it. As he looked at the data on the screen he found a number of recordings and played the first entry.

The large screen on the wall activated and one of the scientists appeared.

" _This is Professor Bould reporting. Well, this is it. After building our makeshift lab and living space just beyond the Reaper's airlock, we have finally started work on finding out every thing we can about this Reaper. The crew is edgy but I believe that it is just nerves. I myself find this whole assignment to be fascinating, to be here inside a member of the most advanced and oldest species ever to exist in our galaxy. Our scans of it's hull show it to be over thirty seven million years old. But there is evidence of the race being even older. Who knows, these Reapers may well be from the beginning of the galaxy itself."_

The log ended and Jack started the next. Another face appeared on the screen.

" _This is Doctor Davidson reporting. I have to say that I am getting worried with the behaviour of our team's leader, Professor Bould has started to act very strangely. He has been locking himself in his office, and talking to himself. Whenever the others have spoken to him, he has spoken nothing but gibberish, saying that the Reapers are the future of our race. I fear that hes being indoctrinated. I fear the gravitational field that is being emitted from the Reaper is also capable of indoctrinating anyone who is inside its radius. I plan to have the rest of us, when not working over here, to stay on our ship and outside the range of the field. In the meantime, we will have to place the Professor into quarantine, so that he will not harm the other scientists. Also a number of us are starting to suffer headaches. The quicker we get off this thing and out of it's range the better."_

The log ended and the Prime activated the last log. The face of Doctor Davidson appearing again, only this time he looked like almost like a zombie as his face was devoid of any emotion and with blood splattered over it.

" _This….I cant think straight. My head is throbbing, all I can hear is it's voice in my mind. It whispers to me, giving me purpose. Telling me to show my belief in it. I killed Larreson earlier, because he didn't believe. I do though and want to become one with it, with my god!…"_

The log ended and Jack looked at his team mates.

"So the Reaper indoctrinated everyone here, that means we will have Husks waiting for us on the other side of that door." Garrus said as he pointed to the large door at the end of the lab.

"Looks like, but it's nothing we haven't faced before." Jack replied before looking at Zaeed.

"Well, nearly all of us."

Zaeed gave Jack a lopsided grin.

"What face off against a bunch of space zombies, let me at them." he chuckled as the team opened up the door and entered the Reaper. As they entered the behemoth. The interior was jet black with large pipes running along the walls and ceiling. Suddenly the ship shook, nearly making them fall over. Once steadied, Jack tapped his com link.

"Defiant report."

"Prime, the Reaper has activated its shields, sealing us in with it. We cant leave while they are still up." Hotrod replied.

"Any ideas on how to disable them Teletraan?" Jack asked, gaining a reply from the AI.

"My suggestion would be to take out the Reaper's power core, it is not far from your current position. But a word of warning, once it is down the gravitational field collapses and the Reaper will be pulled into the star's corona sphere destroying it. That means you will not have enough time to get back to the airlock."

"So you will have to come and pick us up then. If there is any pilot that can do that, its you Hotrod." Jack replied.

"Thanks for vote of confidence Prime, we will be ready. Good luck." the pilot replied before shutting down the com link.

Jack looked back to his team.

"Okay, we know what we have to do, move out." he said as the team moved down one of the tunnels.

After walking a short distance, the team heard gunfire and the familiar inhuman screams of Husks. They the bolted down the tunnel and around the corner to find a lone Quarian fighting for her life against a number of Husks who were close to overwhelming her. Jack and Garrus recognised her instantly.

"Tali!"

This made her look at who called out her name after blowing a husk away with her shotgun. She saw two Humans and a Turian standing just away from her with their weapons ready.

"Get down!" Jack shouted, causing her to dive to the ground as they opened fire on the Husks, killing the creatures in a barrage of bullets. When the last Husk had fallen, she got up and immediately her eyes widened as she recognised Jack.

"Jack….I thought you were dead." she said surprised, earning a smile from the Prime.

"Yeah, I have been getting that a lot lately." he joked as Garrus stood beside him.

"Tali,…. you look good." he said, earning a large smile from the Quarian as her eyes lit up at seeing him.

"Garrus, it's good to see you too." she answered before looking back at Jack.

"Tali, the truth is MECH rebuilt me." he said.

Even though Jack couldn't see her face behind her visor, he could tell she looked confused.

"MECH, why?" she asked.

"So that I could help stop the Quintessons from attacking any more Human colonies. That's why we are here now, to secure the Reaper IFF that is here." he said, he then crossed his arms.

"Why are you here Tali?"

The Quarian looked uncomfortable for a moment before sighing.

"Well, if you must know. I am here to capture or kill a Geth that I have been chasing for the last several months. It is responsible for the deaths of a number of my people when it destroyed one of our patrol ships. I was dispatched with a team to take care of it, but my team was killed by the Husks not long after we entered the Reaper. Then you guys showed up." she said.

"Well I think it's best we stay together now, your ship looks a little to big for you to pilot yourself." Jack responded.

"That's true, the ship was designed for a crew of six to pilot, I wouldn't be able to do it by myself." she replied, earning a smile from Jack as he placed a supportive hand on her shoulder.

"Well we just need to pick up the IFF and then we can then take you back to the Flotilla." he replied.

"That…would be great." she said in a less then enthusiastic tone that both Jack and Garrus noticed. But now wasn't the time to ask why, so the team and their newest member head on down the tunnel.

Since being reunited with Tali, the team had moved through a number of tunnels and had not come up against a single Husk. Garrus then noticed a bright light shining from the far end of the tunnel they were currently in, so they followed the light until they entered a large circular room that had a large device in the middle, holding a blue energy ball in its center.

"That is the power core I guess." Jack said as he turned to Tali.

"Is there another way out of here that the Defiant can pick us up from." he asked, the Quarian activated her holo-tool and looked at the make shift map she had constructed from her scans.

"That tunnel on the right will lead us to a damaged part of the Reaper's outer hull, but it has no atmosphere so we will need to use breathers. Plus once the gravity field is down, our shields wont stand a chance against the star's radiation. So your ship will have to be close."

Jack nodded back.

"Don't worry about that, Hotrod won't let us down." he replied as he noticed Garrus walking over to the power core and picking up a small object off of the control console next to it.

"Jack, I have the IFF. It was just lying there." he said as he handed it to the Prime.

"Well that's convenient, the scientists just left it here." Jack said. Garrus though just shrugged his shoulders.

"Hey, I don't mind it being this easy for once. Please don't jinx us."

Jack then placed the IFF in his utility belt and activated his holo-tool and com link.

"Teletraan, we have the IFF, now how do we disable the power core?"

"Just make a connection between myself and the Power-core's control systems and I should be able to cause a shut-down of it's system. It will take time though." the AI responded.

Jack then used his holo-tool and connected the AI to the system as all of a sudden a Husk crawled out from under the walkway and stood behind the Prime, ready to strike. Garrus turned around and shouted at his friend.

"Jack look out!"

The Prime spun around to see the Husk bearing down on him, when suddenly a shot was fired and the Husk fell dead at his feet. Jack looked surprised at everyone.

"Thanks!" he said to his team mates.

"….Prime, we didn't do that." Zaeed said, making Jack look around before he froze in spot at the sight in front of him. The others looked too, Tali's eyes narrowed at what they all were looking at. At the other end of the room stood a Geth with Sniper rifle in its hands, it then lowered its weapon and looked directly at Jack.

"Darby Commander." it said, surprising everyone. Tali though raised her shotgun at the Geth and was about to fire, when Jack suddenly stopped her.

"What, it's a Geth Jack, It's the one I have been chasing after." she said in anger, while the Prime looked back at her stoically.

"Tali, that Geth just saved my life, and it spoke. I want to find out why before anyone puts a bullet through it."

Tali reluctantly agreed and Jack turned back to the Geth, but before he could say anything, three husks jumped it and sent the Geth onto the floor, disabling it.

"Jack, you jinxed us." Garrus said as they saw more Husks climbing down the walls from the shadows above. The team took defensive positions around the core as Jack tapped his com link.

"Teletraan, how much longer?" he asked as they opened fire on the invading husks who flooded into the room and attacked the group.

"It will be down momentarily, please stand by." the AI responded as Tali took out three husks with her shotgun. Meanwhile Zaeed kicked one in the face before pointing his pistol at the face of another and pulled the trigger, exploding the Husks head.

"Take that you fucking zombies." he screamed as more husks took the place of the ones he had just taken out.

Garrus stood by Tali as he took out two Husks with his weapon that had nearly got hold of her, she smiled back in appreciation.

"Thanks Garrus." she replied happily, making the Turian blush.

"Just like old times Tali." he replied as she killed another husk. Meanwhile Jack had switch to the star-saber and skyboom shield and was slicing and beating through whichever husks got too close while waiting on the AI's response.

Suddenly the energy globe in the center of the power core disappeared in a flash of light.

"It is down Prime, I suggest you move." Teletraan said as Jack sliced the head off of the last Husk.

"Thanks Teletraan, tell Hotrod to get the Defiant over here now." he replied as he walked over to the Geth on the floor, still disabled from the Husk attack.

"What are you doing Jack?" Tali replied as Zaeed and Garrus joined them around the Geth.

"We are taking it with us and I don't want any fuss." he replied before he then motioned the mercenary and the Turian to pick it up as the inhuman screams of more husks could be heard echoing out of the tunnel that they entered the room from.

"Tali and myself will cover you guys, now go." he said as they picked up the body and headed to the rendezvous point.

The Defiant pulled away from the docking point and flew around to the other side of the giant Reaper as Jack and his team (with their breather helmets on) made their way to the most outer edge of the ship's black hull. The Prime and the Quarian held back the husks with bursts of bullets from their weapons as the Defiant pulled up just away from them as they neared the platform's edge.

The Husks kept coming as Zaeed and Garrus threw the Geth body towards the open airlock of the Defiant, the body gliding into it safely. They then jumped over, letting the force they used push them into the airlock too. Only Jack and Tali were left as the Prime tapped her shoulder and she took this as a sign to go and jumped over to the Defiant, getting caught by Garrus as he held her for a moment before letting her down.

They then watched as Jack took one more slice with his star-saber. Cutting the head of a husk off it's body, the head floating away into space. He then turned and jumped over to the ship, as the radiation pounded his personal shield. But he landed perfectly in the air lock as he turned and punched the control panel, closing the outer door.

"We're aboard, now get us out of here." he said into the inter com.

The Defiant then pulled away from the dead reaper and flew out of its range at top speed, as the derelict was pulled into the star's corona sphere, where it exploded moments later.

**PRIME EFFECT 2**

Jack stood in the science lab looking at the Geth body lying on the berth in front of him. Soundwave stood at the console to the right of the berth and tapped the screen, bring down an energy shield around the berth.

"There, that level nine force field should keep it in place." the spymaster said as he joined the Prime's side.

"I have also disconnected the computers in this lab from the Defiant's network. There will be no possible way for the Geth to hack our systems." Teletraan answered as it's hologram appeared on the table next to them.

"Good, that means that I can activate it and find out why it was on that dead Reaper and why it saved me." Jack replied as activated his holo-tool. Suddenly Tali walked in and she didn't look happy, not that anyone could see her face but her body language showed she was pissed.

"Jack, we need to talk." she said angrily as Garrus came in after her, looking apologetically at the Prime.

"Sorry Jack, couldn't stop her."

Jack nodded back at his friend before looking around at the others.

"Everyone out." he said sternly as he looked at Tali. Soundwave and Garrus walked out as Teletraan disappeared. Jack then took a breath.

"Tali, I know it's been a while but you should know that I don't like people telling me what to do on my own ship." he said, trying to remain stoic like as anger tinged his voice. Tali looked away for a second before looking back at him.

"Jack do you have any idea what that Geth is?" she asked as she pointed at it.

"It saved my life, I at least deserve to know why." he replied, crossing his arms, letting the Quarian know that he meant business. She though looked at him in a pleading like way.

"Why, one act of good does not outweigh all the bad it has done. I mean.." she then started to sob as Jack's stern demeanour softened as he walked up to her and put his arms around her in an embrace, as she then cried openly.

"I'm sorry Tali." he said softly, she took a deep breath as she tried calm herself down. She looked up at him as they separated.

"No, I'm sorry. You are right, this is your ship. I had no right to storm in here and talk to you like that." she replied. Jack directed her to a chair and she sat down as he sat on a chair adjacent to her.

"You going to tell me what this is all about?" he asked as she sat there holding her hands together.

"The reason I want that thing dead, is because it killed my father."

Jack looked at her confused before he looked at her sympathetically.

" I am very sorry Tali. What happened?" he replied gently, which made the Quarian sigh in return.

"Several months ago, my father Admiral Rael'Zorah and I came across a single Geth that was travelling alone. We thought it was not only strange that it was outside our home system, but to be by itself was even stranger. We captured it easily, it never put up a fight. We went through it's ships log and it had been to every place you had been to on the Normandy nearly two year ago. My father wanted to take it back to the Flotilla to be examined, I argued against it. Since the Admiralty board would not permit it anyway, but my father made a very compelling case. So we smuggled it aboard the Alarei. But then everything went wrong, the Geth reactivated itself and killed nearly everyone on board, including my father. I managed to get some survivors to the escape pods before the ship exploded. But despite the lives I saved, the Admirals did not take well to what my father and I did. So they exiled me." she said as she hung her head in shame. Jack didn't know what to say. His friend had lost everything, the only thing she had left was the need to avenge her father. But he had a mission to accomplish and this Geth could be of help, so he decided to make a compromise.

"Tali, I know you want revenge, but I need you to understand that I need to speak to it. To find out why it saved me. If it says nothing of value, then I will let you kill it. But you have to trust me..." he said as she looked back up to him.

"...Tali, do you trust me?"

She slowly nodded in return.

"Of course I trust you Jack." she replied.

Jack then stood up and offered her his hand, which she took and he helped her up.

"I'm going to activate it. You can ride shotgun if you like?" he asked, she nodded in return as they walked over to the berth. Jack activated it with his holo-tool, electricity passing through the Geth as its fingers slowly started to move. It's optic powered up and it looked around before sitting up and looking at Jack and Tali.

"Do you understand me?" Jack asked.

"Yes." it answered.

"Are you going to attack us?"

"No" it replied.

"Why, every other Geth that I have ever come across has tried to kill me." Jack replied as Tali stared daggers at the synthetic being.

"We have not met."

"No, you and I haven't, but I have met many other Geth." the Prime answered.

"We are all Geth and we have not met you. You are Darby Commander, Alliance, first Human Prime. You fought the Heretics and was killed by Quintessons. You were then rediscovered on old machine."

Jack looked at it with a puzzled look.

"Old machine, you mean the Reaper?"

"Reaper, crude title given by the Lithone, we call the entities the old machine." it answered back.

Jack crossed his arms.

"You seem to know a lot about me." he replied.

"We mined through data found on all information networks produced by organics. We watch you." it answered looking at the Prime.

"You watch me or organics?" Jack asked.

"Both. Especially since the Heretics attacked your colonies." it said again, as it noticed the Quarian continued staring.

"What do you mean Heretics?" the Prime said, regaining the Geth's attention.

"Geth wish to build our own future, Heretics ask the old machine to give them the future. They are no longer part of our consensus. We were studying the old machine to find a way to protect our future." it answered.

"Are the Reapers a threat to you too?"

"Yes."

Jack stepped forward towards the Geth, it stood up from the berth and copied the Prime.

"So you are not aligned with the Reapers?"

"We oppose the Heretics, we oppose the old machine. Darby Commander opposes the old machines and Heretics. Cooperation furthers mutual goals." it replied.

Jack looked at it dumbstruck as did Tali.

"Are you asking to join us?" he asked in disbelief.

"Yes." it replied.

Jack was about to lower the shield when Tali stepped forward. Jack felt like stopping her, but decided against it.

"Do you remember me?" she asked coldly. The Geth looked at her.

"Yes, you and your father captured us, stopped us from completing our set directive."

Tali clenched her fists.

"What directives?" she spat back as her anger started to boil over.

"To find and join Darby Commander." it answered looking over at the Prime. Tali's eyes widened at the Geth's answer.

"Is that how you justify killing nearly everyone on the Alerai?" she replied.

"We did not wish for creator casualties..." it answered looking down in what Jack could only guess was shame.

"...But creators did not give us any other choice. You fired on us the moment we reactivated, we had to defend ourselves." it answered, looking back at the Quarian.

"You killed my father." she said, trying to hold back the tears, as her eyes welled up.

"We are sorry for loss of creator life." it replied in an almost sympathetic tone. Tali stepped back as she felt her resolve disappear. She then turned and headed out of the door, only for Jack to stop her.

"Tali wait." he said. But she just looked back at him.

"Jack, I need time, I just need…" she answered as the tears started to fall, she then walked out of the room, as Garrus revealed himself to be waiting outside. Jack nodded to the Turian who returned the nod before following the Quarian. Jack then looked back at the Geth as he deactivated the force field, before taking a breath.

"I think you should stay out of her way for a while." Jack said stoically as the Geth looked towards where the Quarian had disappeared and then nodded in agreement.

"We wish to integrate ourselves with Defiant crew, we do not wish to cause difficulties with ship consensus." it replied.

"So what should I call you?" Jack asked.

"Geth" it replied.

"No I mean the individual in front of me?" he said rephrasing the question.

"We are all Geth, there are currently one thousand five hundred programs in this platform."

Teletraan then appeared on the table next to Jack.

"We are Legion, for we are many."

Jack felt a small smile appear on his face at the AI's ingenuity.

"That sounds about right."

The Geth cocked it's head as it thought the name over.

"Christian bible, the gospel of Mark ,chapter five, verse nine. We acknowledge that this is an appropriate metaphor. We are Legion, a terminal of the Geth. We offer you our assistance against the old machines."

Jack then held out his hand to Legion who looked at it before accepting and shaking it.

"We will need some time to process the information from this day." it answered. Jack nodded in return before he turned around and walked out the lab, Soundwave entering at the same time as he stopped and looked at the Geth intrigued. The door then closed as Jack stood outside in the corridor, his com link then activated.

"Prime, Teletraan here. We are installing the IFF now, it should take several hours to complete." the AI said.

"Did you find any hidden booby traps or viruses on it?" the Prime asked.

"Yes, there was a virus embedded inside its coding, but I have wiped it clean. It is now safe to use." it replied.

"Very well, give anyone not working on the IFF the evening off, because once it is installed I want us heading to the Omega four subspace rift." he said stoically.

"Very well, I will inform Hotrod and the team of your decision Prime." Teletraan responded before deactivating the com. Jack then took a breath before heading to the elevator taking it up to his quarters.

**PRIME EFFECT 2**

Jack was sitting in his quarters, the night going by slowly as he was alone with his thoughts. In the morning he would lead the ship through the Omega four subspace rift to the Quintesson home world to stop them from attacking anymore human colonies. He had no idea what would be waiting on the other side of the rift, but that wouldn't stop him. As he sat there, his thoughts began to wonder back to the one person who wasn't with him right now.

He activated his holo-tool and brought up a photo of Arcee. He smiled sadly as he looked at her image, he had really missed her since she left him on Horizon. What was she doing at this very moment, did she even miss him. He was so occupied with his own thoughts, he did not hear his door chime. But after another moment it chimed again, bringing him out of his thoughts.

"Come in." he answered as he deactivated the holo-tool, the picture of his past love disappearing with it. He looked over to see Airachnid standing in the doorway.

"May I come in?" she asked, the Prime nodded and she walked over to his desk and leaned up against it, looking down at him.

"Can't sleep? He asked curiously.

"Yeah, never could before a possible suicide mission." she joked, gaining a slight chuckle from Jack. He looked into her purple eyes as they stared back at his intently.

"The others are playing a game of poker down in the common room that Zaeed set up, even the Geth is there asking questions." she said.

Jack sat back and placed his hands behind his head.

"So why aren't you down there with them?"

She gave him a knowing smile in return.

"Maybe I wanted to spend time with you." she answered suggestively.

Jack stood up and walked over to the fish tank, suddenly looking very uncomfortable.

"Airachnid look.." he replied nervously as she walked over to him and placed a hand on his arm.

"Jack, I know what you are going through right now..." she said in a soft voice.

"...Your lonely, I can see it easily. Because well, so am I."

Jack looked at her and listened to her every word.

"Since I came back, I have felt that due to what happened to Esmeral, that I wouldn't be able to get close to anyone and that has left me feeling incredibly empty inside. But since being 'reunited' with you, I have felt myself wanting to be closer to you, especially after what you did to help me on Cybertron, when you saved me from Shockwave. I want to thank you for that. To be with you tonight, because tomorrow we could both end up dead and I don't want to have any regrets."

She then looked into his eyes as she leaned in close, he could feel her breath on his skin and it felt indescribable.

"Just let me stay with you tonight?" she asked in a soft, almost pleading tone.

Jack suddenly felt very conflicted, there was a part of him that wanted to stay loyal to Arcee, but then she had left him, ripping his heart out and taking it with her as the saying goes. This had left him feeling very much alone. There was now a deep void inside of him, that he felt that he needed to fill and here in front of him, now was a beautiful femme who wanted him back just as much. He looked into her purple eyes as he ran his hand through her raven black pixie cut hair and pulled her close, pressing their lips together. It felt like electricity between them as they kissed. She then wrapped her arms around his neck as he placed his own on her rear, squeezing it gently. She moaned in delight as her mouth opened, allowing him to slip his tongue inside. For a long moment their tongues fought before the two ended the kiss and looked at each other while smiling.

"Come with me." she said seductively as she pulled him by his shirt to his desk. She then sat on it and opened her legs, allowing him stand between them as they kissed again. She moved her hands down to his shirt's buttons and ripped open the top and dropped it on the floor, surprising him as he stopped and looked at what she did. She then pulled him close again and kissed him as her hands glided over his torso, exploring every part of his physic. As Jack returned the kiss, he let himself relax and did not here as a door suddenly opened, before Airachnid pushed him. The force used against him was quite strong as he stepped back several steps into the bathroom and stopped right under the shower.

It then activated and soaked his person in warm water as he looked up to the femme in surprise, but all he saw was her smiling back at him darkly as she walked into the bathroom and entered the shower with him. Letting the warm water soak her too as they embraced each other again. They kissed passionately and so hard it almost hurt as she moved a hand down into his pants, earning a moan of approval from the Prime. Jack smiled into their kiss, having missed this feeling for so long. They then pulled out of the kiss and took a breath as Airachnid then pulled her hand out of his pants and licked her fingers seductively in front of him.

Jack then unzipped his flies as she undressed herself, exposing her athletic and beautiful figure to him. She then wrapped her arms around his neck again as he picked her up, her legs spread to either side of him as he lowered her onto him. She moaned out loud in ecstasy as she grabbed his shoulders and dug her nails in to his skin, drawing small droplets of blood, but this didn't stop Jack as he began thrusting into her while her legs wrapped tightly around his waist.

Their breaths became fast and heavy as he gained momentum with his thrusts into her, the warm water from the shower entering their mouths as they both moaned in pleasure. As the two continued like this, the bathroom door closed behind them as they let the world fade away around them while they concentrated on each other.


	10. Chapter 10

 

It was still early as Airachnid woke up. She was lying in Jack's arms while he was still fast asleep as they lied together in his bed. She looked up to the Prime's face, it looked so peaceful and content as he gently snored. The femme couldn't help but feel a smile grace her lips as she watched him. She still felt the euphoria from what they did together only hours earlier, it was a feeling she had not felt in a very long time. As she observed her sleeping lover while very gently stroking his raven black hair.

The femme could not help but imagine what kind of future she could share with Jack, what kind of life they could live. Yes he was young, very young compared to Cybertronians. But he was strong, compassionate, forgiving and kind, all the attributes that make up a Prime. But he also reminded her of Esmeral, who shared the same attributes and there lied the problem. Although she felt her feelings for Jack growing ever since he helped her on Cybertron.

She still loved Esmeral and was also bonded to her as the femme's spark mate, fated to remain faithful even after their sparks together or alone returned to the Allspark. Her smile faded slightly and her spark ached, she knew that all her imagining would be only that. A fantasy, something that could never be even if she wanted it. But there was another doubt in her mind that she couldn't shake.

Even though she knew her feelings for him were strong, she feared that he would not be able to return them in kind, because his heart was already owned by another, Arcee. Her thoughts left her as she felt Jack stir and slowly started to wake up. She couldn't be there when he did, if he was to look her in the eyes with that smile she enjoyed seeing, then she would never want to leave his side. She slowly got out of the bed, making sure not to disturb Jack's slumber and got dressed before leaving the room, taking one last look at him before closing the door behind her.

Jack was woken up by the sound of his com link beeping on the chair next to the bed. He looked over to see that he was alone in his quarters. His mind became plagued by thoughts like where was Airachnid, why did she leave, had he done something wrong. But the com link's beeping brought him out of his thoughts as he reached over to it, wincing slightly as the scratches the femme had left on his back ached. He then put the com link to his ear.

"I'm here, what is it?" he answered.

"Prime, Teletraan here. We have installed the IFF and it is synced with our systems. Hotrod has set course for the Omega system and awaits your orders."

Jack swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood up.

"Tell Hotrod I'll be in the CIC in thirty minutes." he answered as he chucked the com link onto the bed and walked over to the bathroom, stopping for a moment as he looked at the shower. Instantly remembering what he and Airachnid did there only a few hours before and it left him feeling better, like a weight had been taken off of his shoulders as he then got ready to have a shower.

As the Defiant flew in hyper speed, Jack walked into the common room and saw the femme sitting alone in the corner. A sad smile appeared on her face as she spotted him, as he walked over to her table and sat down in front of her.

"Morning." she said sheepishly as she softly raked a hand through her hair.

"Hi, is everything alright?" he asked with a soft but concerned tone in his voice. The femme sighed as she looked away for a moment before looking back at Jack.

"Jack, what we did last night… I don't regret it. Not for a moment but…." she trailed off as Jack tensed up slightly, knowing what was coming next.

"….I think this is a bad idea." the femme finished.

Jack looked at her confused.

"What is?"

She then looked directly into his eyes.

"Us, Jack. You see, what we did last night I will never forget. But I am afraid that it will be the only time." she answered.

Jack looked down at the table for a moment before looking back at her.

"Because of Esmeral." The Prime replied staring into her purple eyes. Airachnid smiled slightly as the young Prime surprised her yet again.

' _He is quick._ ' she thought before nodding in return.

"Yes, you see when Cybertronians bond and become spark mates, its not only for life but beyond it too."

Jack nodded as he understood what she was saying.

"You feel that what we did last night was a betrayal to her?" he replied.

"Yes…I mean no. But if we were to continue this…" she said while gesturing to the both of them. "…then that would be a betrayal and I can't do that to her." she said, her voice tinged with emotion. She then placed her hand on to his supportively.

"And I know that I am not the only one feeling this way either." she said observantly. Jack in response looked away and remembered Arcee, not noticing that Airachnid was looking at him intently.

"That look you have now, was the same one I saw when I walked into your room last night. You still love Arcee." she replied with a little disappointment.

Jack looked back to her.

"Airachnid, I'm sorry…" but she cut him off mid sentence.

"No Jack, I am sorry… for pressuring you last night." she said, gaining an annoyed look from the Prime.

"Don't apologize Airachnid. I don't regret what happened between us last night either…..but you are right. I have come to care about you a lot…. but I can't let go of Arcee, just like you can't let go of Esmeral. We will always remember what we did for each other last night, but maybe its for the best that we remain friends." he said while holding his hand out to her. She looked at it, before taking it in her own and shaking it.

"friends….and more." she replied with a smile, one that Jack returned in kind. The femme then took a breath.

"Well, now that we have gotten that out of the way…..don't we have a galaxy to save?"

Jack nodded in agreement.

"Yes we do."

She then stood up and gestured to him.

"Then what are we waiting for." she said. Jack got up too and placed his hand out in front of her.

"Ladies first." he replied with a smile. Airachnid chuckled at the Prime's good manners as she took the lead and left the room with him following, but then her smile faded as sadness sunk in because she now realised after their talk, that she did in fact love him and it was going to be so hard for her to let him go.

As they headed for the elevator, the inter-com activated.

"Prime, we have a call from Silas for you in the briefing room." Hotrod said.

Jack tapped his com link as Airachnid stood beside him.

"Prime here, thanks for the heads up Hotrod, how long before we reach Omega?" he replied.

"We should be there within the hour." the pilot answered.

"Okay, I want everyone ready by the time my talk with Silas is over, understand?" the Prime ordered stoically.

"Will do, myself and Teletraan thought that would be the case so we made a head start."

Jack smiled at the comment.

"You know me so well."

"Well of course I do Prime..." the pilot chuckled.

"...Everything will be ready by the time you are up here."

"Okay, Prime out." Jack finished before looking to Airachnid.

"Can you make sure the team is ready?" he asked.

"Of course Jack." she nodded back before turning and heading away as Jack walked into the elevator and placed the octagonal disc on his chest. The Prime armour covering his body as the elevator doors closed in front of him.

**PRIME EFFECT 2**

Silas was standing in the darkened room looking over one of the orange holo screens when Jack appeared behind him on the holo-pad. The MECH leader turned to the Prime, the concern on his face was evident.

"Prime, I wish that I had more Intel for you. The idea of sending you through that rift blind does not sit well with me."

Jack found himself surprised at the Director's sudden act of concern, but kept his stoic appearance.

"I'm not going alone, I've got some of the best going with me. If we stay together, we'll make it."

Silas's expression softened at the Prime's confident reply.

"I knew we brought you back for a reason, I have never a seen a better leader. Despite the unknown danger that lies on the other side of the rift, it is a great opportunity. The first human to take a ship into the galactic core and survive."

Jack took on a more stern look.

"This isn't a science expedition, we are going through the rift to put an end to the Quintessons, to stop their attacks on humanity."

The Director smiled at the Prime's response.

"Understood, still its very impressive. I just want you to know that I appreciate the risk you are taking. Regardless of your opinion of MECH or myself, you are a 'valuable asset' to all humanity. Good luck Prime."

The Defiant entered the Omega system as Jack watched from the cockpit. With their viewpoint, Jack could see the subspace rift in the distance. It looked like a tear in the fabric of space, not exactly something you wanted to fly into but they didn't have a choice.

"Approaching the subspace rift, all decks report ready Prime." Hotrod said, as Jack looked down at him.

"Understood, lets make it happen." the Prime replied stoically.

Hotrod then took the controls as Teletraan's hologram appeared next to him.

"The Reaper IFF has been activated and…the signal has been acknowledged." the AI stated. Engineering reports that the Power core is exceeding critical levels."

The pilot frantically typed at his holo-interface.

"I'm re-routing." he replied.

The Defiant then flew into the event horizon of the rift and was suddenly rocketed at super speeds, making its hull strain and shake as Jack held on to Hotrod's chair as they looked out of the cockpit's window at the storm-like fluctuations that surrounded the ship as it flew through the rift.

"I think we are passing through the worst of it." Hotrod said as he looked between the window and the information scrolling down one of his holo-screens.

Suddenly the rift opened up and the ship was spat out directly into an asteroid field, one of the large rocks coming up fast in their path.

"Oh scrap" the Autobot cursed as he pulled the ship up and fired the thrusters to max, making the Defiant fly over the asteroid, veering left and right,. Narrowly missing the other rocks as it cleared the field and entered open space.

Hotrod breathed a sigh of relief as he levelled the ship.

"That was too close." he exclaimed while Jack looked out the window as the Defiant flew over the asteroid field toward the accretion disk of a black hole that was in the middle of the system.

"Prime, I have run a scan of the asteroid field and found metallic debris in there. It appears to be the remains of ships that tried to enter the rift, some of them look ancient." Hotrod said, as Jack looked down at the screen.

"I have detected an energy signature near the edge of the accretion disk." Teletraan stated as Hotrod turned the ship in the direction of it. As they looked out at the structure, Hotrod and Jack could swear that it that it looked almost like Cybertron. It was a metallic planet with large parts of it separated from the main body and orbiting around it.

"That has to be the Quintesson home world, take us in closer. Nice and easy." Jack said to the Autobot who nodded in agreement before he piloted the ship closer to the structure, unaware that he had just activated a Quintesson satellite as the Defiant passed by. The satellite then started to broadcast the ship's location to unmanned weapon platforms that were docked onto the asteroids that were drifting at the utmost edge of the field, while the Defiant was flying over it.

"Careful Hotrod, I am detecting weapon signatures around us." Teletraan warned the pilot as the platforms turned their turrets in the direction of the Defiant and fired red energy beams at the MECH ship, narrowly missing it's hull.

"Taking evasive manoeuvres." Hotrod stated as he pulled the Defiant into a full loop as it spun around, barely evading the beams before coming around and firing it's cannons at the locations the attacks were coming from. They hit a few of the enemy emplacements before one of the beams penetrated the ship's shields and hit the hull. The impact making the ship rock as two stations exploded in the CIC, sending the crewmen there flying on to the ground, killing them instantly. Jack turned to look at the crew before looking back at his pilot.

"Hotrod." the Prime said worriedly .

"I know, I know." the pilot stated angrily as he veered the Defiant to the right before another weapon platform had gained a target lock.

"Its no good, I am going to have to take us into the asteroid field to stop them getting a target lock on us." the Autobot stated. The Prime merely nodded at him as the ship suddenly dived back into the field.

The Defiant flew around the large chunks of rock that drifted erratically through the field.

"Our shields are not designed to withstand impact with asteroids of that size Hotrod."

The Autobot gave the hologram a confident smirk.

"Well it's a good thing our ship has been upgraded then."

He then swerved and dodged the ship past a number of the rocks, merely missing them by a few hundred metres as the field became more dense.

"Come on, find some room." he stated as the he turned the ship on it's side to brush past a large asteroid that skimmed the ship's shields.

"Shield strength down to forty percent." the AI said to Hotrod, who never took his eyes off his controls as he spotted two really large rocks closing in on each other, cutting off the path ahead of the ship as space was becoming restricted.

"Reroute none critical power to shields and engines, this is going to hurt." he replied as the Defiant shot towards the gap, flying between the two rocks as they closed around the ship.

Hotrod narrowed his eyes as he focused on getting the ship through, as the rocks skimmed the ship's shields just before Defiant came out the other side and back out of the field.

The pilot slumped in his chair relieved, as Teletraan's hologram looked at him.

"What's the damage Teletraan?" he asked

"Shields are stable at thirty percent, no significant damage." the AI responded as Miranda joined Jack behind the pilot.

"We lost two crew back there." she said sadly, the Prime nodding in silent agreement as he turned back to Hotrod.

"Are we through?"

The Autobot nodded as he kept his eyes and hands on the controls.

"Yeah, we are through the field and there is nothing between us and the Quintessons." he answered as the Defiant drew closer to the enemy home world.

"Good, see if you can find a safe place for us to land." the Prime ordered stoically. Hotrod then looked at the screen to his right and his face turned slightly pale.

"Too late, looks like they are sending out an old friend to greet us." he replied as the Quintesson cruiser appeared from behind one of the large pieces of debris that orbited the planet. It then powered it's main weapon and fired a yellow energy beam towards the MECH ship which swung from left to right as it narrowly evaded it.

Jack then smirked.

"Time to show the Defiant's teeth, fire the main gun." he ordered. Hotrod's smile beaming as he worked the controls. On the underside of the ship, a hatch opened and a large cannon deployed before it fired a powerful blue beam towards the enemy cruiser, which didn't have time to evade as the beam hit the ship's hull dead on, resulting in a massive explosion, Hotrod raised his hands as he cheered.

"How do like that you fragging scrap heaps." he exclaimed. Jack though remained stoic.

"Get in close and finish them off." he said calmly.

"Everybody, hold on to your pants, this is gonna be a wild ride." he exclaimed as the Defiant evaded another attack from the cruiser with a barrel roll, before flying directly at the enemy.

"Give them hell!" he said as he hit the button on his interface hard, resulting in the weapon firing again as the blue energy beam impacted directly on the cruiser's engine core, causing numerous explosions along it's hull as it tore itself apart. The Defiant tried to veer away but was suddenly caught in a shockwave emanating from the exploding cruiser.

"Look out!" Miranda warned as another shockwave hit the Defiant, rocking the ship and shutting down it's engines as the Defiant found itself being pulled down towards the planet's surface by it's gravity field.

"The engines are offline, Teletraan give me something." Hotrod cried out.

"Engine reactivation failed, all hands brace for impact." the AI stated as the ship hit the ground hard and skidded over the metallic surface, causing fires and sparks to emanate from under the ship as it finally came to a standstill between two metallic buildings.

Jack picked himself up off the ground and looked over to see Miranda and Hotrod sprawled on the floor.

"You two alright?" he said as he went over to them, helping the MECH officer up as Hotrod got back into his seat.

"I'm fine Jack." she replied as the Autobot pilot felt his chest.

"I think I broke a rib?" Hotrod said unsure of himself.

"I didn't know the pretender bodies had ribs." the Prime said back. Hotrod winced slightly as he felt his chest.

"Neither did I."

Teletraan's hologram appeared next to them, flickering for a moment before stabilising itself.

"A number of primary and secondary systems are offline. Restoring them will take time." the AI stated grimly. Miranda sighed as she stood there with her arms crossed.

"We all knew this was likely a one way trip."

Jack and Hotrod looked at each other knowingly.

"We are here to stop the Quintessons at any cost." the Prime replied stoically as looked down at the pilot.

"Teletraan and Hotrod, I want you and the crew to repair the ship as fast as you can."

Jack then turned to Miranda.

"Let's assemble the team in the briefing room." he said before they both walked out of the cockpit, leaving the Autobot and the AI to their tasks.

The Defiant lay on the alien and hostile metallic surface of the Quintesson home world as in the briefing room, Miranda, Soundwave, Airachnid, Jacob, Legion, Zaeed, Tali and Garrus were waiting around the table, checking their weapons as Jackson Prime stood in front of them at the table's front end.

"This isn't exactly what we prepared for, but this is where we are at."

He then looked at around at each of his team.

"The Defiant is in no shape to move right now, but that doesn't matter. We are here to put an end to the Quintessons, and that means coming up with a plan to destroy this planet. Teletraan bring up your scans."

A holographic image of the planet appears from the middle of the table.

"You should be able to overload the main reactor at the heart of the planet from this control station here." the AI stated as a cursor appeared over a part of the image. Soundwave then activated his holo-tool.

" But for the core to overload, you will need to bypass the coolant value fail safes in this section here. Otherwise when you try to overload the core, they will activate and stop it."

Miranda then pointed over to a large heat signature that was between both areas.

"The scans also show a large number of life signs in this area here."

The Prime looked at the spot.

"That's obviously where the abducted colonists are being held. So we will split into two teams, Beta team will head for the coolant fail safes and plant explosives there. While Alpha team will distract the Quintesson troops in the base by going up this passage and shooting anything that moves. Once Beta is done, both teams will meet up in the colonists chamber. Alpha team will be made up of myself, Airachnid, Legion and Zaeed. Beta Team is everyone else and Miranda will be in charge. "

The Mech Officer nodded back.

"I won't let you down Jack."

The other team members looked at Miranda for a moment before looking back at the Prime, who held his hands behind his back and looked back at them stoically.

"Now I don't know what we are about to face, but I know that its not going to be easy. We have already lost people and we will lose more."

Everyone in the room looked at each, slightly nervous at what Jack had just said, but the Prime continued regardless.

"We don't how many humans the Quintessons have taken, thousands, hundreds of thousands. It doesn't matter, what does though is this. 'Not one more!' That is what we are here to do, to end the threat the Quintessons pose to the galaxy. They want to know what we are made of, I say we show them, on our terms. Let's move out." he said, before they all headed for the Defiant's airlock.

**PRIME EFFECT 2**

Outside the Defiant, the airlock seal opened and Jack dropped down to the ground below as did the team (with breather helmets) as they split up into their respective teams and entered the planet's interior through two separate openings. Jack and the Alpha team moved quickly and quietly through the metallic grey corridors. They then heard metal footsteps coming from up ahead and took cover behind the support beams that were connected to the walls. Jack tapped his com link.

"Beta team, status update." he whispered.

"Miranda here, we have come across no trouble so far." the MECH Officer reported.

"Roger that, we'll make sure to keep it that way." Jack replied as three drones stepped around the corner to be met with bursts of weapon's fire from Airachnid and Legion, while Jack finished of the third with a shot to the face.

Meanwhile in a circular room somewhere on the planet, Alpha Q was working a control interface in it's center while the hologram of a Reaper was being emitted above it. One of the controls started blinking on and off, gaining the Quintesson Leader's attention. He moved over to it as his face shifted from calm to worried.

"We have intruders, that is impossible. The enemy ship was caught in the explosion when our cruiser was destroyed."

The Reaper looked down at the Quintesson, its six yellows staring down coldly.

" _ **The Prime is here, deal with him. He cannot be allowed to interfere any further.**_ "

Alpha Q looked down as it appeared to bow.

"It will be done master."

He then activated a control node with one of his tentacles. Suddenly alarms blared out around the planet as drones started marching up and down the corridors towards the intruders.

Miranda and the Beta team made it to their target, as she gestured to Tali and Jacob to plant the explosives when the alarms sounded around them.

Garrus smirked at the sounds blaring.

"Looks like Jack is keeping up his end of the plan." he said while Soundwave nodded back in agreement. Miranda looked over to Tali.

"How long will it take Tali?" she asked.

"We should be done in a few minutes…keelah, I just hope Jack and the others are alright."

Miranda gave the Quarian a sympathetic look.

"He's a Prime Tali, he will be fine."

The Quarian nodded as she returned to working on the explosives with Jacob.

The drones kept coming as Jack and the others fired back at the enemies from behind their cover in a large open room.

"Darby Commander, to your left." Legion called as Jack turned around and ignited the star-saber in time to pierce through the torso of a drone that had tried to creep up on him.

"Thanks Legion. Hey Zaeed, you having fun yet?" he said over to the Mercenary who at that moment was incinerating a large group of drones with his flame thrower.

"Time of my life!" he exclaimed as Airachnid fired her weapon at two more drones while using another as a shield, holding on to it via her escrima stick which was sticking out of it's back. She looked over to Jack and smiled.

"Jack, I think they are retreating." she observed as the other drones left the room through the large opening in front of the team.

"They are more likely regrouping, we should move fast before they attempt to over run us again." the Prime said before his com link activated.

"Jack, Beta Team successful. Now on our way to rendezvous at colonist chamber." Miranda reported.

"Copy that, Alpha team on route." he replied as they moved out of the open room and back into one of the corridors. They moved through the passage way quickly, taking out any drone that was in their way, until they came up to a large door.

"Legion, can you hack this door open." Jack asked as he looked back to see numerous drones coming down the corridor toward them.

"Negative, we can not find an adequate control node to interface with." the Geth replied as it worked it's holo-tool. The Prime, Airachnid and Zaeed started firing down the corridor at the approaching Quintessons, the Mercenary's flame thrower keeping them at bay while Jack and the femme picked the enemies off.

"Jack, we are at the other side of the door. Tali is hacking it now." Miranda reported over his com link.

"Right fall back, and hold the drones back." he shouted over the weapons fire as the four of them knelt down and returned fire at the Quintessons attacking them. After what felt like an age, the door opened and Miranda, Tali and Jacob appeared and began firing bursts of bullets.

"Covering fire, Jack get in here!" the MECH Officer shouted. Jack nodded to her before turning back to his team.

"Fall back." he said, as he then turned to Zaeed who was further back from them, setting fire to drones with his flame-thrower.

"Zaeed, we are leaving." the Prime shouted back.

The mercenary looked back and nodded, turning to run back to them. But a stray shot hit his weapon, causing him to stop and look down at it. His eyes widened as he realised what was about to happen.

"Oh shit!" he said fearfully before the flamethrower exploded, engulfing the Mercenary in a fireball and incinerating him.

"ZAEED!" Jack shouted back from the door way as he and the others watched their team mate's burning body fall to the ground, moments before the doors closed shut.

Jack looked at the ground for a moment as he mourned Zaeed's passing, Airachnid placed her hand affectionately on his shoulder in support. Miranda though turned around and looked out into the room they were in.

"Jack, I think you should see this." she said in a matter of fact like manner, gaining the Prime's attention as they all looked out in to the massive room. It was filled with thousands of pods with large metal pipes coming out of the walls and leading away further into the facility. Legion looked to the group's right and its optic brightened.

"Darby Commander, there are humans in these pods." the Geth observed as Jack walked over to one pod that was holding a Caucasian woman in it, she had long brown hair and pale skin."

"Is she dead?" Miranda asked as Jack took a closer look. Suddenly the woman opened her eyes as her skin started to slowly dissolve.

"My god, she's still alive. Legion and Tali, hack the controls and get them all out." he shouted as the woman started to scream in shear pain and fear within the pod as her body quickly dissolved into a reddish/black liquid right before their eyes. The Geth and Quarian frantically worked their holo-tools as the other human prisoners started screaming, their skin too dissolving into the same liquid. Before long all the pods were empty as the humans that were once inside were no more, as more red/black liquid was pumped away through the pipes above them. Both Legion and Tali looked down in shame.

"I'm sorry Jack, I tried everything." she said, as Legion looked at her.

"Creator Tali'zorah, you should not blame yourself, this unit is to blame. We were not fast enough at decoding the Quintesson systems."

Tali just looked at the Geth, completely confused as she backed away from it. Jack though was still looking at the blood splattered window of the pod in front of him.

"It's neither of your faults, the Quintessons started this and now we finishing it." he said as anger started to boil in his blood. He then looked at the others as he pointed back to the pods.

"We are going to make sure that no one will have to suffer at the hands of Quintessons, even if we have to give up our lives in the process." he said to them, his eyes glinting with resolve. The others nodded in return. Jack then activated his com link.

"Defiant, this is Prime. We found the colonists but were too late in stopping the process. Can you tell us anything about these pipes we are seeing here?"

"Prime, Teletraan here. My scans show that these pipes run from other rooms like the one you are in and end at the same location. Interestingly, when the rooms activated and the fluid from the colonists was transferred, there was a slight power fluctuation at this location."

Jack looked back at the pipes.

"Can you tell us anything about that location?" he asked.

"Only that there is something quite large in there and that it is heavily defended. Also the location is directly connected to the power core. Whatever is in there is being powered directly from the planet." the AI replied, before being cut off by Hotrod.

"Hotrod here, we have a number of systems up, so we can do a pick up. Teletraan's scans have detected a hanger bay not far from that location, that is if you heading there?" he asked.

"That is exactly where we are going, we will see what the Quintessons have in their 'vault' and then blow the planet apart. Take the ship there now, we will meet you there, Prime out."

Jack then looked to the others while he raised his weapon.

"We are sticking together from now on, no more splitting up. Lets go!"

**PRIME EFFECT 2**

The Defiant took off from its crash site and moved at a low altitude, so not to set off any sensors that the planet would have hidden. The ship was moving slowly due to the fact that it was only running at fifty percent efficiency, this was one journey that would take time. Meanwhile Jack and his team were moving through the passage ways and silently taking out any drones that were patrolling the area. They moved into a massive room with a large bridge going over what looked like bottomless pit. Garrus looked over the edge and gulped.

"Wow, now that is deep." the Turian observed rather fearfully. Tali patted his back gently, making him gasp as he kept his balance before turning around to the Quarian in shock.

"That was not funny Tali." he exclaimed. She just chuckled at his reaction.

"You are so cute like that." she teased, causing the Turian to blush. Jack though looked back stoically.

"Stay sharp people..." he said as he raised his mattock rifle.

"...This seems too quiet."

Suddenly above them a large yellow hologram of Alpha Q appeared and looked down at them.

"Prime, you are becoming an annoyance, this ends now." he stated coldly before the hologram faded away.

Everyone looked at each other before hearing a large footstep like noise, as well as feeling vibrations through the floor. It grew louder as it got closer to them. Then Airachnid pointed over the bridge as a giant Mech walked over to them. All of them looked on in horror at the giant as it stomped over to them. It looked like a Quintesson drone, only more heavily armoured. Then Alpha Q's voice could be heard again as it echoed through the massive room.

"Welcome to your end, the 'Dark Guardian' will see to it personally."

Jack and the others started firing at the colossus as it raised it's right hand, its fingers changing into very long, very sharp talons. It then swung down at the group who dived back and rolled into kneeling positions and began firing back at it again, but their fire only bounced harmlessly off its armour.

"Fall back!" Jack shouted to the others as he activated the star-saber and charged it before launching an energy attack that sliced the colossus's arm off. It watched it's arm fall into the darkness below before turning its attention to the Prime, who had fallen to his knees in exhaustion. Airachnid ran to his side and tried to lift him up.

"Jack we have to move." she said hurriedly as the dark guardian lifted its other arm, which shifted into a mace with what looked like a thousand spikes all over it. Jack though couldn't move as Airachnid looked back to see Soundwave join them as the two grabbed the Prime by the arms and dragged him back. But they weren't quick enough as the colossus had raised its mace fully over it's head and started to swing it down at the three of them.

But a second before it hit, the guardian was suddenly knocked back by an explosion to its chest. It stumbled back momentarily before an energy beam hit it again, making it move back further towards the edge of the bridge. And just as it regained it's balance, a third energy beam hit the giant in the face. Making it tumble backwards and fall off the bridge and into the abyss underneath the bridge. Everyone looked back in amazement to see Jacob holding up what looked like a cannon. He had a wide smile on his face.

"Don't you just love this gun or what!" he exclaimed happily. Garrus looked at it wide eyed.

"That's a 'Cain' right, you've been carrying a heavy weapon around and didn't tell us,"

The MECH Operative just shrugged his shoulders.

"Well it is useful and your telling me that I have been carrying this on the back of my armour during our missions, and you never thought to ask me what it is?" he said as he cocked his head while looking at the Turian.

Jacob then looked over to Jack who had just recovered his strength, Airachnid standing close by in case Jack hadn't fully recovered.

"Great job Jacob." the Prime said back, making the Jacob's grin grow bigger.

"Thanks Prime, that means a…." he was cut off suddenly when a gun shot could be heard behind him and a large metal spear shot out of his chest, spraying blood over the ground in front of him.

"JACOB!" Miranda screamed as the others spotted more drones rushing out of the entrance the group had come from, and started to fire back at them as Miranda tried to move to Jacob, only for Jack to hold her back. Jacob fell to his knees as he coughed up some blood before looking at the MECH Officer and Prime.

"Go…. now!" he shouted as they saw him pull out a grenade from his belt and armed it as the drones got closer.

"We have to go now!" Jack told Miranda as they started to move in the other direction while the rest of the group gave covering fire while they too moved away. Jacob could feel his strength slipping away from him as hell fell to the ground and opened his hand, letting the grenade roll out of his grasp and onto the floor just as the Quintesson drones reached him. Suddenly as Jack and the others ran away, there was an explosion behind them that killed most of the drones, but sent the remaining ones over the edge and into the pit.

The Prime and the others felt like they had run a mile over the bridge as they finally saw its end in the shape of a big metallic door just ahead of them. Airachnid then turned to look behind them and saw more drones chasing after the group on what looked like flying metal boards.

"Incoming." she screamed as she turned and fired at the attackers, taking one out as it fell off it's board. Jack and Garrus followed suit and killed two more drones as the enemies fell into the abyss. Tali was right at the edge firing back with her shotgun when one of the drones fired a rocket which exploded just away from her, making her fall off of the bridge as Garrus looked on in horror.

"TALI!" he cried out, when out of nowhere Legion managed to grab the Quarian by the hand and stop her fall. It looked directly into her eyes with its only optic.

"We have got you creator Tali'zorah." it said in a calm fashion as it pulled her back up and onto the bridge. Tali just looked at it in shock, as it let go of her hand and stared at her.

"Why did you save me?" she asked in confusion. The Geth just continued to stare.

"We told you we do not wish to see our creators die." it stated back. Before Tali could say any more Garrus ran up to her and gave her a warm hug which surprised her.

"Thank god your safe." He said which made the young Quarian smile behind her visor. The Turian then looked at Legion.

"Thanks for saving her Legion."

The Geth looked between the two organics.

"Acknowledged." it replied as Jack, Airachnid and Soundwave finished off the remaining flyers and turned to them.

"Through the door, now!" the Prime called as more Quintesson troops ran across the bridge towards them. The group made it through the door before Legion sealed the door shut with it's holo-tool.

With the door closed and no enemies around, the group took a moment to catch their breath. Tali while standing next to Garrus, just stared over at the Geth that had saved her life. The same one that had killed her father and numerous other Quarians, she just couldn't figure it out. Jack meanwhile tapped his com link as Airachnid and Soundwave stood close by.

"Teletraan, how close are we to that room?" he asked as he looked at his holo-tool.

"Prime the room is right through the large door on the north side. There is also a door on the east that will lead to the hanger bay. We will be there in approximately ten minutes." the AI replied before pausing for a moment.

"You should know that a large group of Quintesson drones are on the other side of the door you came in and are attempting to get through."

"Understood." Jack replied as he looked at his team.

"Okay, three of us will go into the main chamber and overload the core, but only after we see what the Quintessons have in there first. Now while we are in there, those drones will be trying to get in…" but as the Prime spoke, Garrus decided to finish his sentence.

"And you need the rest of us to keep them at bay. Then get to it Jack, we have got your backs." The Turian finished with a smile while he and the others readied their weapons, as they all nodded back at the Prime. He could see that they were all on the same wavelength.

"Airachnid and Miranda, your both with me."

The two then walked over to Jack as he looked at the other four.

"Good luck." he said, as Garrus, Soundwave, Tali and Legion looked at him.

"You too." Soundwave replied before Jack and his two team mates walked into the other room. Garrus then turned to the Quarian and the spymaster.

"Okay we have some good cover in here, so pick a spot and get ready." he said as they got behind repsective cover and checked their weapons, meanwhile the door had started to heat up. Whatever the drones on the other side of the door were doing, it was making short work of the metal that stood between the two sides. Garrus looked over to Tali before the door melted down and the drones entered the room, guns blazing. The team returned fire as their battle intensified very quickly.

**PRIME EFFECT 2**

Jack, Airachnid and Miranda walked through a small tunnel as Teletraan spoke into Jack's ear via the com link.

"Prime, I am detecting a bio-mechanical signature in the main chamber. Considering the energy I am detecting, it must be massive."

The team walked into the main chamber and they stopped and looked up in horror at the sight in front of them.

"If my readings are correct Prime, then this signature is a …..Reaper!" the AI said in astonishment.

Jack looked up at it.

"Not just a Reaper, but a 'Human' Reaper." Jack observed as he looked at the colossal entity hanging from the ceiling via a number of pipes and struts.

"My god." Miranda said, while Airachnid just looked at it completely shocked. The human Reaper was just a torso, head and two arms. But it had two optics for eyes and the top of it's head was still open. The Reaper was definitely unfinished.

"Prime, for the amount of bio-matter used to create this Reaper, I would say that the Quintessons have processed tens of thousands of humans, but even more will be needed to finish it." the AI added.

Airachnid looked over at Jack and saw that he was just staring at it, she placed a hand on his shoulder and shook him gently.

"You okay, you zoned out for a second there." the femme asked worriedly. Jack looked at her and gave her a reassuring smile.

"No, I am fine. It's just I think I have seen this body before, it just looks familiar." he replied as the Prime looked at it again. He then tapped his com link.

" How do we destroy this abomination?" he asked the AI.

"The Reaper is still in it's foetal stage and is connected directly to the planet's core, so overloading it will destroy the Reaper before the planet itself is destroyed."

Jack nodded as he looked at his team members.

"Thanks, is the Defiant at the EP (extraction point) yet?"

"We will be there in two minutes." the AI reported.

Jack then changed frequencies on his com link.

"Prime to Garrus, sit-rep?"

Jack then heard a lot of gunfire and explosions on the other end before the Turian spoke.

"Jack, we are holding the line but they keep coming, a quick exit plan would be appreciated."

Jack walked over to what looked like a control interface and pulled off a panel, revealing it's inner workings.

"Garrus, detonate your explosives and get to the EP. The Defiant will be waiting for you there." Jack then switched frequencies and spoke to his pilot, as they felt a small quake shake the area, which meant that the explosives had taken out the fail safes.

"Hotrod, you better get here fast, because I am about to overload the power core and destroy this entire planet." he said as he started working on the control panel's insides.

"Roger that….uh Prime, I have incoming transmission from Silas. Teletraan is patching him through."

Miranda activated her holo-tool and a life size hologram of Silas stood before Jack.

"Prime you have accomplished the impossible." he stated with a smile. Jack looked over to him with a sullen look.

"I didn't do it alone, I was part of a team and crew. Some of them gave their lives to see this mission through."

The Director's face became stoic at the Prime's comment.

"I understand, they will not be forgotten. You did what you had to do and because of that we now have the Quintesson planet."

Jack turned around and looked at him confused.

"What are you talking about?"

The hologram of Silas just looked at him, his yellow optics clearly defined as they stared at the Prime.

"I have gone through the scans that Teletraan had taken of the planet. A timed radiation blast will destroy all of the Quintessons, but leave the planet and the technology intact."

Jack and his team just listened as Silas carried on.

"This is our chance, the Quintessons were building a Reaper. That technology and knowledge could save us."

Jack could not believe what he was hearing.

"They processed humans, liquefied them. It was horrendous, the planet needs to be destroyed." he said angrily.

Silas just glared at him.

"Don't be short sighted. Using the Reaper's own technology against them is the only way to beat them."

Miranda looked unnerved by what she was hearing.

"I am not so sure, after seeing it firsthand. Using anything here seems like a betrayal."

Silas ignored his daughter's doubts and continued with Jack.

"The Quintessons are working for the Reapers, who knows what kind of information is stored there."

Jack just crossed his arms and shook his head.

"No matter what we may find here, it isn't worth the amount of lives it cost to obtain it." he said in a stoic manner, trying to get through to the Director.

"Prime, you died fighting for what you believed in. I rebuilt you so that you could keep fighting, some would say that what we did was going too far, but look at what you have achieved. I didn't discard you because I knew your value, don't be so reckless with discarding this facility so quickly. Think of what we could do with it's potential."

Jack though turned away from Silas and continued with the control panel.

"No, we can fight and win without it, I will not let fear compromise who I am or what we stand for."

Silas could feel himself losing control of the situation and so turned to Miranda, the one person he felt he still had control of.

"Miranda, do not let Darby destroy the planet!"

The MECH Officer looked at Silas in a untrusting manner.

"Or what? You'll discard me, like you did before." she spat back at him.

"I am your father…" he replied forcefully. But Miranda just looked back at him in disgust.

"Funny how you remember that now, consider this a disownment." she replied as she deactivated the transmission. Silas turned back to Jack with an almost pleading look.

"Jack, don't do this. Think about what is at stake, about everything that MECH has done for you…." then his hologram was gone as Miranda knelt down next to Jack and helped with the reprogramming. After a moment they were done.

"Okay, we have several minutes before the reactor blows and takes this whole planet with it."

The three of them ran out of the room as the reactor started to overload, causing the planet to experience earthquakes as it started to build up its energy towards exploding point. Once they got back to the outer room, Jack's com link activated.

"Prime, do you copy?" hotrod's voice came through.

"We on our way, did the others make it?" he asked hoping for good news after seeing how shot up the outer room looked.

"Everyone is on board, we are just waiting on you." the pilot replied as drones started to swarm through the tunnels and passages towards them. Jack and his team then heard a booming alien voice speaking to them through the station.

" _ **Prime, you think you have won, but you've changed nothing. Your species has gained the attention of one that is infinitely greater.**_ "

Jack, Airachnid and Miranda fired at the drones as they ran away from the enemies chasing them.

" _ **The species you call Reapers are your destiny through destruction.**_ "

As they ran, Jack looked around to see drones running at them from all directions as the group entered the hanger to see the Defiant waiting for them, Garrus and Soundwave in the airlock providing covering fire, taking out a few of the drones who had gotten closer to Prime and his team mates.

"Go, I'll cover you." Jack shouted back as he fired back at the Quintesson drones flooding through the hanger's entrance. Miranda and Airachnid ran up the catwalk and jumped into the airlock.

"Jack get here now." Garrus shouted at the Prime who started to run towards the ship, only to find the catwalk retracting in on itself, Jack though was not going to let that stop him so he put everything had left into his legs and ran as fast and as strong as he could while the drones fired at him. Garrus saw what his friend had in mind and realised instantly what was going to happen.

"He's not going to make it!"

He then got down on his knees and held out his hand as Jack reached the edge of the catwalk and jumped into the air, arm stretched out, reaching for his friend's hand. Suddenly everything felt like it was in slow motion as Jack moved through the air, but just as it seemed that he would not make it, their hands connected and grasped each others strongly as Jack was hanging of Garrus's arm. The drones stopped at the edge of the platform and fired at the Defiant as Soundwave and Airachnid fired back, while Garrus pulled Jack on board and closed the airlock door. The Defiant turned around, it's engines facing the drones as it prepared to leave.

"Everyone's on board, punch it." Tali shouted to Hotrod as Teletraan gave them a countdown.

"Detonation in nine, eight, seven…" the AI said.

"Yeah I get it, full power to engines now." Hotrod then took the controls as the Defiant flew out of the hanger at full speed as the planet's surface was rocked by explosions, the ship trying to make as much distance between itself and the Quintesson planet as possible.

Meanwhile in the planet's main control room, Alpha Q was working frantically as he tried to avert the explosion. But the Reaper hologram just looked down at him, completely enraged.

" _ **You have failed, but we 'have' another way. We will leave you to your fate!**_ "

The hologram then disappeared as Alpha Q's face shifted to fearful as the planet shook around him. He then heard the explosion travelling up to meet him and stared at it as it enveloped him and the room.

The planet then exploded in magnificent fashion as the explosion spread out across the system only seconds behind the Defiant as it flew past the wreckage of the Quintesson cruiser which was then destroyed by the explosion wave. The Defiant then entered the rift just as the wave caught up. But by then Jack and his crew were safely away.

**PRIME EFFECT 2**

Silas stood in silent rage as Jack's hologram appeared on the holo-pad.

"Darby, you are making a habit of costing me more than time and money." he said trying to keep his anger in check.

"The price of the atrocities that occurred on that planet were too high, I am not sorry that it is gone." Jack replied.

"Well you better get used to losing people, many more will be lost now. The technology on that planet could have secured humanity's dominance in the galaxy, against the Reapers and beyond." he countered.

"More like MECH's dominance." Jack responded.

"MECH is a symbol of humanity, what we do strengthens every human. I should have known that you would choke when it came down to the hard choices. You are just like that fool Optimus, to idealistic for your own good." Silas spat back at the Prime.

"I don't care what your opinion of me is, the Reapers are coming. Humanity and the rest of the galaxy need a leader who is looking out for them. From now on I'm doing things my way, whether you like it or not." Jack replied stoically. Silas took a few steps toward the Prime, his yellow optics glowing brightly as he let his anger loose.

"Don't you dare turn your back on me Darby. I rebuilt you, I brought you back from the dead."

Jack just tapped his com link.

"Teletraan, lose this channel." he said coolly as he walked off the holo-pad and disappeared from the Director's view. Jack smiled as he left the briefing room, happy in the knowledge that he had just cut ties with MECH.

Silas though just stood there in his darkened room with his fists clenched tight. He was so angry that he didn't hear footsteps behind him.

"That Prime is a real problem…" a voice said, making the Director turn around to see who had spoken.

"…for both of us." the voice continued.

Silas focused his optics trying to see the person in the room with him.

"Who's there?"

The figure in the darkness then stepped out into the light cast from the orange holo-globe in the center of the room and smiled at Silas.

"You can call me Sideways, and I have proposal for you."

The Director simply nodded cautiously.

"You help me to kill Jackson Prime and I will help you get your hands on what you desire most." Sideways said in a calm tone.

"And what is it that you can offer myself and MECH?" Silas asked in a distrusting manner.

The former con simply smiled in return.

"Reaper technology and information of course, enough to help you unlock their secrets and put MECH above everyone else. Is that incentive enough….do we have a deal."

As the two men stood there in silence for several seconds, a dark grin appeared on Silas's face as he stared back at Sideways.

Meanwhile in the Defiant's shuttlebay, Jack was standing over the coffins of those who died during the mission. He placed his hand on one of them and whispered a prayer before standing up straight and remaining quiet for several seconds. He then turned and walked away toward one of the windows that looked out into space. The some of the crew were busy repairing the ship as he walked past, lost in his own thoughts.

Everything had changed again, and yet things were still the same. Yes… he had made enemies of the Council, of the Alliance and of MECH, but the Reapers were still out there and so his mission still needed to be completed: Stop the Reapers no matter the cost. But while he looked out at the cosmos, unbeknownst to Jack. The Reapers appeared around the galaxy, billions of ships, the one that had spoken to Alpha Q was at the front of fleet. It's eyes brightly shown as the Reapers moved ever closer to the galaxy. The battle was over, but the war was still to come.

**To be continued in…..**

**PRIME EFFECT: ARRIVAL**

**And to be concluded in…..**

**PRIME EFFECT 3**

 

**A/N: I hoped you enjoyed this story. I certainly enjoyed writing it and thank you for reading. :)** **  
**


End file.
